By the turn of the 21st century, Nelly was accredited for putting St. Louis on the Hip Hop map with the release of his national debut, Country Grammar.
Upon Nellyville, Nelly’s second release, he was faced with the question: can he do it again? Sophomore Jinx was a big concern in the Hip Hop business at the time. However, when “Hot in Herre,” the album’s promo single, was released in the spring of 2002, I had a gut feeling his second offering would not be affected.
[Tune in to “HipHop-Album-Debate,”The Podcast” every Wednesday!]
The aforementioned track didn’t take much time to go into heavy rotation. By June, it was the certified jam of the summer.
“Dilemma,” the follow up single, featuring Kelly Rowland, garnered the same attention. Nelly and Kelly’s chemistry was so magical many thought the two were telling their real love story via song.
“Dilemma” nearly didn’t make the album, however. Reportedly, the album was already done, but due to a last minute recording session, a last minute feature request, and an undeniable product lead to the late addition.
“Air Force Ones” can’t be accredited for bringing sneakers into the Hip Hop fold because RUN-DMC had did that already with their 1986 hit “My Adidas.” But it definitely got credit for having a bigger influence globally.
When it comes to number and accolades, Nellyville is honorable mention to say the least. It debuted at number 1 on the US Billboard 200 and had sold over 714,000 copies in it’s opening week. It would eventually sell nearly 7 million copies in the United States.
However, that didn’t mean anything to legendary emcee, KRS-One. He disapproved of Nelly’s melodic style on his 2002 track, “Ova Here.” “Sounds like ‘NSYNC commercial,” KRS raps.
Reportedly, “#1” was a respond at the Boogie Down Bronx head honcho.
No disrespect to KRS, but HHAD believes in the consensus. What you guys think?
Nelly’s ‘Nellyville’; Classic, Dope, Regular, or Garbage?
[Polls Are Closed!]
Classic! – 60%
Regular – 20%
Dope – 20%
Garbage – 0%
