Nelly fights for his Street Cred

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

Many rappers dream of having the type of success Nelly has had over the past decade and a year. Very few artists, of any genre, have topped Billboard as many times as Nelly. While being on the top of the charts is an incredible feat, rappers usually end up switching up to do so. Nelly, unlike most chart-topping rappers has not been accused of switching up.

In the eyes of many, Nelly is a pop rapper and he always has been. But, the reality is, Nelly was a hardcore rapper on the hardcore streets of St. Louis. By the time he released "Just a Dream," many were viewing Nelly as a pop rapper. Nelly is willing to accept the label of being a pop rapper, but he said he is still urban, at the end of the day.

Nelly said he simply does what works for him and it is opening doors for the next man to come and set records. The veteran rapper went on to say it would be dumb to not do what worked for him, so he decided to be smart about the situation. Nelly said he has always had the drive to succeed, so he did not waste his time focusing on what would not work, which is doing something dumb.

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T.I. hosts Welcome Home party at Club Esso

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

A free man, once again, T.I. celebrated his freedom and his future. The Grand Hustle rapper hosted a party at Club Esso in his hometown of Atlanta.

T.I. took the stage and performed "What You Know," among other hits. Several other stars attended the party, including Maino, Grand Hustle label-mates, B.o.B. and Young Dro, Nelly, and DJ Drama.

Watch the video below:

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Gucci Mane ft. Nelly - "Scarycat"

Fresh out of jail, Gucci Mane is back in the studio making more hits. Over the past two years, he has been one of the more popular rappers in the game. Years ago, this title belonged to Nelly.

With the roles reversed, two of the biggest "dirty" rappers in history have teamed up for a new track. The new track is called "Scarycat" and Gucci Mane and Nelly tag-team the new record.

Listen to "Scarycat" by Gucci Mane ft. Nelly below:

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Nelly denies the Steroid Rumors

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

Several rappers in the game have muscular figures. As time has gone on, more and more rappers are showing off their muscular frames. Many of these rappers appeared to be very slim and skinny before racking up these muscles.

Because the rappers have added on so much mass, many have accused them of taking steroids. Nelly is among the rappers on the list of using steroids. Initially, the St. Louis rapper had a very slim build.

However, when he returned to the game in 2008 after a three-year hiatus, he can back much bigger. At the time, a major drug dealer gave cops a list of celebrities he had sold to over the years. When Nelly made the list, he denied all of this.

Now, his former manager, Slim, is bringing these rumors back to the forefront. Slim's accusations have made the "Country Grammar" rapper very unhappy. Nelly said the defense is pointless if the people believe Slim was his manager in the first place. Through Twitter, he also denied intaking anything besides fish, chicken, and several alcoholic beverages before going to to say the foreclosure rumors were also false.

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Nelly to release New Album before the End of the Year

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

Last year, Nelly released 5.0. The album was his first release in two years. In the early 2000s, Nelly was one of the biggest rappers on the planet. But, by 2010, Nelly found himself struggling for radio play.

On his last album, Nelly found himself recreating some of his hits from years passed. He reunited with Kelly Rowland for a sequel to "Dilemma" called "Gone." The song was not met with the same critical and commercial reception.

While 5.0 was a bit of a disappointment, Nelly remains focused on his music. Before the end of this year, Nelly intends to release another album. This time, he is working on reinventing his style to win the fans back over.

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Nelly reflects on Drug Dealer past

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

Nelly's career will officially be documented when he is chronicled by VH1 for "Behind the Music." During his interview with the music series, Nelly opens up about everything. The St. Louis rapper discusses the death of his sister, Jackie, and his career before rap took off for him.

Early in his career, Nelly was one of the most popular rappers in the game. His first two albums sold well over five million copies and his songs received constant air play. But, the second half of the 2000s was not so good to Nelly. His record sales dwindled and his music is hardly ever played.

Fortunate for Nelly he sold records when he did, or this documentary may be on "American Gangster" or another series of that type. Before he decided to give rap a serious try, Nelly was dealing drugs. An excerpt from "Behind the Music" quoted Nelly saying he was slinging anything he could get his hands on.

As he was going off to make drug deals, Nelly said he would sometimes ride his daughter. Other times, he would ride both his daughter and her mother. Looking back on it, Nelly realizes how naive he was. Had they been caught by the police, Nelly could have cost his daughter both parents. But, fortunately, Nelly was able to move past that part of his life and make his living the legitimate way.

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Nelly lands VH1 "Behind the Music" feature

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

Nelly's long and successful career will finally be documented and viewed as legendary. Despite being in the game for over than ten years, Nelly has yet to have his own "Behind the Music" special. Next month, all of this will change as Nelly's career will be the subject of an all-new episode.

Early in his career, Nelly put St. Louis hip hop on the map and had everyone saying "derrty." But, following the success of his first two albums, Nelly continuously fell off. By 2005, Nelly was an afterthought in the game. Three years later, he resurfaced with his Brass Knuckles album.

Last year, Nelly released 5.0, his worst commercial offering, to date. Following the low sales of his latest album, Nelly has been looking for a way to leave his longtime label, Universal Records. Back in 1999, he would have never guessed he would be searching for a way to leave the label which helped him become a force in the game.

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HHV Valentine's Day 2011: Nelly and Kelly Rowland - "Dilemma"

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Nelly - "Just a Dream"

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Nelly blames Universal Records for Low Record Sales

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

In 1999, Nelly signed a major deal with Universal Records, which was a 50/50 partnership. The deal not only landed Nelly a major label record deal, but also created Derrty Ent. Early in his career, Nelly sold millions of records. He was one of the highest-selling artists of the 2000s.

5.0 was the first album from Nelly in the 2010s. The sales of the album have proven Nelly is definitely not in 2000. Where he sold over 1 million copies in his first week off his debut album, he only sold 63,000 copies his first week on this album. Nelly said a record deal is a 50/50 deal, but Universal did not do their half.

The top priority on Universal Records is Young Money. The debut album from Young Money rapper Nicki Minaj was also released earlier this week. Her album sold over 400,000 copies in its first week, but Nelly has barely sold records. Nelly feels as if he has been placed on the backburner for these artists and he said he thinks his records were undershipped.

Despite the high sales of his "Just a Dream" single, Nelly's album has not sold and it is his second album in a row to have this perplexity.

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Nelly channels Biggie on "5.0"

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

Nelly is on the comeback trail once again. The St. Louis rapper is preparing to release his first album in two years. In the midst of rumors about a relationship with Ashanti, there is plenty of buzz surrounding him. While all attention is good, Nelly would rather have the people focus on his music.

With 5.0, his sixth studio album, set to come out next month, Nelly definitely wants some music-related buzz. In anticipation for the release of the album, Nelly has released the track listing. Much like his previous release, Nelly aligned himself with the stars, working with the likes of Diddy, T.I., and Plies.

The one artist Nelly has always admired has been The Notorious B.I.G., as he frequently quotes his lines. Nelly was even featured on his posthumous album, Duets: The Final Chapter. The final result was the "Nasty Girl" hit. Five years later, Nelly has called upon some of Biggie's lyrics for his latest opus. The first single from 5.0, "Just a Dream," put Nelly back in the top ten and he hopes Biggie can help put him over the top.

Track Listing

  1. "I'm Number 1 (featuring Birdman and DJ Khaled)
  2. "Long Gone" (featuring Nelly and Plies)
  3. "She's So Fly" (featuring T.I.)
  4. "Just a Dream"
  5. "Making Movies"
  6. "Move That Body" (featuring T-Pain and Akon)
  7. "1000 Stacks" (featuring Diddy and The Notorious B.I.G.)
  8. "Gone" (featuring Kelly Rowland)
  9. "Don't It Feel Good"
10. "Broke Niggas"
11. "Live Tonight"
12. "Nothing Without Her"
13. "Go" (Bonus Track)
14. "If I Gave You One" (featuring Avery Storm) (Bonus Track)
15. "Kissing You" (featuring Dirty Money) (Bonus Track)

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Nelly making "Tipdrill" movie

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"Here I Am" ft. Avery Storm and Nelly

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