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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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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