's debut album, In Search of..., sold 603,000 copies in the United States and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Three years later, the band reunited under Star Trak Entertainment, a subsidiary of Interscope Records established by Williams and Hugo.

[4][5] Hugo was the drum major for the Kempsville High School Marching Chiefs, under the direction of current University of Virginia Band Director, William Pease, while Williams was a drumline member of the Fabulous Marching Cavaliers (FMC) of Princess Anne High School, both of Virginia Beach.

[citation needed] They spent their free time making beats and performing in groups with fellow childhood friends Missy Elliott, Clipse, and Timbaland & Magoo.

Williams and Hugo met Shay Haley in high school and began performing together.

[6] After watching the duo perform at a high school talent show, producer Teddy Riley signed Williams and Hugo in 1991.

[9] This led them to rerecording the album using live instruments with rock band Spymob for a worldwide release in 2002.

The music videos for "She Wants to Move" and its follow-up single, "Maybe", have received strong support from the digital cable network VH1 Soul in America.

[9][19] While touring, the band became "hooked" on the energy from their fans, which led them to begin recording their third studio album, spending their own money while still unsigned.

On June 13, they gave an energetic performance at the Isle of Wight festival, however they almost missed their scheduled show because they didn't know where the island was.

[21] On June 25, they performed in front of 40,000 people at the Isle of MTV 2008 at the Floriana granaries, Malta with free admission.

[22][23] On August 9, 2008, the band played at the Way Out West music festival held in the city park of Gothenburg, Sweden.

performed to a sold-out crowd at the House of Blues in Chicago, Illinois, and brought special guest Bad Brains onstage.

The first single off the album, titled "Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing in the Line for the Bathroom)", was first mentioned on their Billionaire Boys Club blog in January 2008.

The group also played at the National Bowl, Milton Keynes before the recording of Road to Revolution by Linkin Park.

On September 28, 2010, they premiered another track from the album titled "Hypnotize U", produced by electronic music duo Daft Punk, on Late Show with David Letterman.

[29] It was later announced that they would support Gorillaz on the North American leg of their 2010 Escape to Plastic Beach Tour.

The group reunited on December 26, 2014, to release the songs "Squeeze Me", "Patrick Star", and "Sandy Squirrel" for the film The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.

[40][41][42][43] They have been praised for their heavy use of electronic, bass and funk beats,[44][45][46] while others have suggested that the Neptunes are unable to blend R&B and rock.

Ian Cohen of Pitchfork called the band's lyrical writing ability "far down the list of what N.E.R.D is actually good at",[48] where Williams is often criticized for being excessively sexual.