NELLY Biography
A savvy pop-rapper with crossover appeal, Nelly seemed like a novelty when he first debuted in summer 2000 with "Country Grammar (Hot...)," yet he was no one-hit wonder, consistently returning to the pop charts with successive smash hits like "Hot in Herre." His universality is partly rooted in his hometown: the Gateway City, officially known as St. Louis, MO, which set him apart from all of the prevailing rap styles of his time. He wasn't from the East or West Coast, nor was he from the South; located in the middle of the United States, St. Louis is a Midwestern city halfway between Minneapolis and New Orleans, built upon on the western banks of the Mississippi River. Nelly's locale certainly informs his rapping style, which is as much country as urban, and his dialect as well, which is as much Southern drawl as Midwestern twang. Plus, Nelly never shied away from a pop-rap approach, embracing a singalong vocal style that made his hooks catchier than most, thanks also in part to his standby producer, Jason "Jay E" Epperson. As a result, Nelly became a rapper capable of crossing practically all boundaries, from the Dirty South to TRL and everything in between. His first hit, "Country Grammar (Hot...)," became a nationwide summer anthem, and many more smash hits followed. His popularity peaked in summer 2002, when he topped seemingly every Billboard chart possible with his Nellyville album and its lead single, "Hot in Herre."Nelly was born Cornell Haynes Jr. on November 2, 1974. He hales from St. Louis, Missouri and part of the rap group St. Lunatics. Nelly's parents divorced when he was only eight years old. Nelly admitted he used to get into a lot of fights as a teenager but that his passion for baseball kept him out of trouble. In 1993 Nelly left his gritty St. Louis neighborhood and settled in the suburban area of University City. Nelly continued to work on his baseball skills and formed a rap group called the St. Lunatics with school pals Kyjuan Ali, Murphy Lee and his little brother City Spud. Two years later Nelly and crew released a 12-inch single called Gimme What Ya Got, which sold almost 10,000 copies. Nelly continued with the Lunatics while playing shortstop in the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association. The group had a local hit in 1996 with the self-produced single "Gimme What You Got". After much frustration and failed attempts to be signed to a record deal, the members of St. Lunatics felt that Nelly would have a better shot at success as a solo act, to gain recognition first as a soloist and then bring in the rest of his group, the St. Lunatics in the time to come.The St. Lunatics managed to put out another song called Who's The Boss, which became a local hit. The song helped their reputation locally but didn't grab the interest of record companies. The frustrated St. Lunatics decided to try their luck in Atlanta and teamed up with Kula who was managing Mase at that time. Eventually they realized Nelly would have a better chance of scoring a record deal on his own, so with Kula, 19 year-old Nelly attracted Universal Records exec Kevin Law in 1999.
Nelly's career was off like a rocket with the release of his song Country Grammar, which borrows the hook from the children's song Down, Down, Baby. On June 6, 2000, Nelly released his first full-length album - also called Country Grammar. The album managed to sneak past Eminem and Britney to the number one spot on the Billboard charts on August 26, 2000. Country Grammar (2000), featured contributions from the St. Lunatics as well as the Teamsters, Lil Wayne, and Cedric the Entertainer, and thanks to the widespread popularity of lead single "Country Grammar (Hot Shit)," Country Grammar debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 album chart, climbing to the top spot soon afterward. In addition to the Top Ten title track, Country Grammar spawned the hits singles "E.I.," "Ride wit Me," and "Batter Up." In the wake of Nelly's remarkable breakthrough success, he recorded a group album with the St. Lunatics, Free City (2001); released by Universal, the album charted Top Three and spawned a moderate hit, "Midwest Swing," which cracked the Billboard Hot 100 at number 88.
The following summer Nelly returned with his second album, Nellyville (2002), and lived up to his self-proclaimed billing as "#1" (i.e., the title of his 2001 hit from the Training Day soundtrack): Nellyville topped the Billboard album chart while the Neptunes-produced lead single, "Hot in Herre," remained atop the singles chart. In all, Nelly impressively held the number one spot on ten different Billboard charts the week of Nellyville's release, and he remained a chart presence as he released a string of follow-up singles: "Dilemma" (a chart-topper), "Air Force Ones" (a Top Three hit), "Work It" (featuring Justin Timberlake), and "Pimp Juice" (the source of some controversy).
Even once Nellyville ran its course commercially, Nelly's hit streak continued unabated, with "Iz U" (from his stopgap remix album Derrty Versions [2003]) and "Shake Ya Tailfeather" (from the Bad Boys II [2003] soundtrack) keeping him in the spotlight while he readied his separately released double-disc Sweatsuit (2004) project (following the lead of OutKast and R. Kelly, who had both recently released very successful two-disc sets). Sweat and Suit were led by a pair of red-hot singles -- "Flap Your Wings" (a club jam) and "My Place" (a slow jam) -- and debuted at the top two spots on the Billboard 200 album chart. Follow-up singles included "Tilt Ya Head Back" (featuring Christina Aguilera), "Over and Over" (Tim McGraw), "Na-Na-Na-Na" (Jazze Pha), and "N Dey Say." Sweat and Suit were later bundled as Sweatsuit (2005), along with the new song "Grillz," itself a number one hit.
~ Jason Birchmeier (All Music Guide), Wikipedia » VIEW NELLY LYRICS