Back in 2000 when Nelly first hit the music scene with his St. Lunatics, the world simply wasn’t ready for his midwest swing. Although, It didn’t take long for Nelly’s “Pimp Juice” to have us going “going down down baby your street in a Range Rover.” Almost 14 years later, 7 albums in, multiple grammy awards, several number one songs, a sports team, an acting career, a fashion line and several business ventures later, Nelly is still keeping us partying.
What does one do after having several successful albums and number one hits? You keep on doing what you love! This Monday, Nelly will release his seventh studio album, M.O., featuring the radio hit “Get Like Me” featuring Nicki Minaj and Pharrell. Nelly had his “M.O.” listening session in DC earlier this week, and due to the love that fans have for him, it was definitely “Hot in Therre”.
In my very first interview with Nelly (and actually meeting him), I will definitely have to add him to the “One Of The Coolest/Most Humble Person I Ever Met” list. After his listening session with fans and an interview with Angie Ange of 93.9 WKYS, Nelly and I went one-on-one with alot of things. From his “relationship” with Ashanti, being called a “sell out”, life outside of music, working on M.O., adjusting to this social media (twitter, Instagram, blogs) crazed world, “Over & Over” again he kept it 100 with everything.
Check out my one-on-one with Nelly below:
Watch Interview Video: Here On Youtube
What Nelly Has Been Up To:
A little of everything. Obviously a doing a lot more television,
films, working on spreading out the brand. I just recently built a
school in St.Louis where we teach kids how to be engineers and
producers mix masters graphic design voice lessons we even and teach
kids about the business, about the music and all that. So thats been
my most prized possession and my project right now.
Approaching “M.O.” Versus Other 6 Albums:
The thing is with this one I approached this one more or less the same
way I approached “Country Grammar”, it was no expectation. I just went
in and just tried to bring something new to the table and I think
that’s what I was doing with this album as well, just bringing
something new to the table with songs like “Rick James”, “IDGAF”, and
“Get Like Me”, I think all those songs, I think they are so different
from what’s going on today. So on first listen, I think you get a
chance to understand the concept behind M.O.
People Calling Him A “Sell Out” When He Started Doing Different Genres Of Music:
When you from a city like St. Louis, eat, sleep and live it…it never
effects me. It never effects me because I always want to expand, I
always want to be the best I can be, I didn’t come out and try to be
the best lyricist or try to be a battle rapper or none of that
$h*t….but I thought I could be the biggest rapper, the best rapper,
as far as being able to number ones on different genres, you know what
I’m saying, and different stations in different countries. That was my
main focus, trying to just spread my music out as far as I could get
it….People called Run DMC a sell out when they did “Walk This Way”.
People called MC Hammer a sell out when he got a Coke deal and a
cereal behind him. Now you wish you could get a Coke deal, you wish
you could get a cereal, you wish you could get a cartoon! So it is
what it is until people understand the motives…so if you a true
hustler and you understand the game, you could never say somebody is a sell out, you know what I’m saying? If you a true hustler, you
understand the game!
Collaborating With Artist On “M.O.”:
Everybody is everybody so you appreciate the help that everybody gives you, but I think the best thing that came from us having this much fun
was me Timaland, and Pharrel in the studio. We so thorough with it, ya
know, me and P we already there, so we be having to loosen Tim up a
little bit (laughs) Because you know, he trap or die! (laughs) You
know he stay in his zone, we got to loosen him up a little bit. But I
think that’s the love he have for us, he entrust us to try new things.
I have a gang of fun with them, I always have fun working with Pharrel
On Being More Accessible Thanks To Social Media:
It’s different. I am a late bloomer when it comes to social media, I
just got on IG, I just got on twitter, I just got on twitter a couple
of years ago, I just got on IG, last year….it probably ain’t even
been a year on IG. But you know you continuously got to work, you
either deal with it and be versatile or you get left behind…it is
what its, I’ve come to accept it I was one of those private people,
and it was hard for me because things happen so fast and so big, and I
felt like I was giving everything already and this was all that I had.
But now you got to work within the system.
Number One Lesson He Has Learned In His Career:
To try to enjoy when you accomplish your goals. I didn’t get to do
that because everything happened so fast. People always ask if I could
go back and tell something to the young Nelly, I would say Yo! Enjoy
your accomplishments more, it’s your life. When you look up 14 years
has passed, it don’t look like 14 years for me. People be like Yo! I
was rocking with you in middle school, you be like DAM! Wait a minute?
Hold are you? Are even supposed to be in the club
Reason He Kept Relationship With Ashanti Private:
I think that’s the key because You don’t get the outside influences
and you get the chance to have something that’s just yours. People are
very opinionated when it doesn’t concern them, when its not your
business and you dont have to live by that code and die by that code
you give all sorts of “If I was them, I’d do this, or I’d do that” and
your own dam relationship ain’t right.
Reading The Blogs:
You have to ignore them. Blogs are there for a purpose and you have to
understand why they are there….. I don’t go on them unless someone
sent me there to see something, but I know you got people that wake up
every morning and they go straight to the blogs, nah, I don’t see how
you do that but if something comes across and they say “Check this
out! You should see this $h*t” you might check it out.
M.O. is in stores Monday, September 30th.
Special Thanks to Nelly, Universal Music, Kevin Liles, Danielle Lott, DMVsTheMove, and Savvy Cherise.
Follow me on Twitter & Instagram, @UrbanInformer!
