His track record is irrefutable - there's the platinum-selling remix album Da Derrty Versions (The Reinvention) in 2003 and another Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group with "Shake Ya Tailfeather" collaboration with Murphy Lee and P Diddy.Įven in a more fickle market, he's still managed to score platinum on not one, but two albums Sweat and Suit released simultaneously in 2004. It's high time for Nelly to show and prove once again with his fifth studio album titled Brass Knuckles. Yet, he remains the voice of the tough town with heart. It's 2008 and with 30 million records sold, Nelly is one of the industry's top recording artists. For a generation raised with hip hop sensibilities, Nelly has taken the reigns as the residing voice, blending smooth Southern cadence and Midwestern inflection that ride easy over beats and infectious hooks.
Louis has long struck a chord producing unforgettable talents that stand the test of time – Chuck Berry, Ike and Tina Turner and Miles Davis. Two years later, his sophomore album Nellyville established his widespread appeal, selling 6 million albums and earning him two Grammies for the singles "Hot in Herre" and "Dilemma." Out of the gate, the staying power of this breakout artist from the Midwest was underestimated by coastal critics, a naïve assumption that Nelly would easily overcome. Louis, Missouri had indeed brought the heat. Nelly quickly proved his star potential with follow up singles "E.I" and "Ride Wit Me" on an album that would go onto sell 9 million copies - the spirited rapper from St. With the single "Hot," Cornell "Nelly" Haynes, an unknown rapper from a sleepy Midwestern metropolis stunned the recording industry, selling over a quarter of a million copies of his debut album Country Grammar during its first week of release. In the summer months of 2000, steam rose off the banks of the Mississippi River.