Songfacts®:

• This is the first single from Nothing, the fourth studio album by American funk rock band N.E.R.D. The song features Canadian/Portuguese singer Nelly Furtado, who the band recruited for her distinctive tone.
• Drummer Shay Haley told MTV News: "It's the ultimate spring, summertime record. It's the festival record, it's a fun record and it's geared towards the women. What woman doesn't want to put on their sundress and stroll through SoHo and have that as their theme music?"
• Haley told MTV News that having ditched a number of songs, N.E.R.D were left with a blank slate and eventually filled it in with songs inspired by touring and women. "We had several [album] names throughout this process," Haley explained. "It's just one day [Pharrell] called and said, 'What do you think about the album title Nothing?' "
• The colorful music video was directed by Swedish film/music video director Jonas Akerland, whose résumé includes the clips for Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" and "Telephone." Pharrell Williams told MTV News that the video was a mixture of elements, but it could all be summed up with one phrase: "baba cool."
  "There's a French expression which is called 'baba cool,' which is from the late '60s, early '70s, and it's like the mixture of posh, bohemian and art," he said. "That's pretty much the theme of the album."
• In the video, the N.E.R.D trio is seen driving their Rolls-Royce through the desert. The Rolls is painted in vivid colors and graphics, courtesy of FriendsWithYou. Nelly Furtado, who provides the song's hooks, also turns up singing in a cloud formation created by the artist collective. Pharrell explained to MTV News how they first linked up with FriendsWithYou in Miami. "We told them we wanted something that was psychedelic, something that paid homage to the Beatles' Yellow Submarine and the Magical Mystery Tour."