I guess we all heard it by now: Nelly this, Nelly that; Nelly here, and Nelly there. But what is it, that makes this kid from St. Louis ship more than 200'000 units a week? Let's take a look back in time: Cornall Haynes Jr. a/k/a Nelly started in the game in the early '90s with his group the St. Lunatics. Although they had a regional hit with "Gimme What Ya Want" in 1996, the Lunatics couldn't get a major record deal. Nelly as a solo artist had better luck and was getting signed to Universal Records shortly after. And now, with his debut album "Country Grammar" he is definitely the '00 rookie of the year. Just after seven weeks in the charts, he is now also # 1 in the U.S. pop charts leaving America's favorite teenager Britney Spears and others way behind. You probably asked yourself, too how an artist can come out of nothing and just blow like this, reaching platinum status for his album within weeks with only one single out?
Is it because we're all constantly looking for something new and fresh in hip hop? Probably. Are we tired of the sounds of the East and West Coast? Maybe. Fact is that Nelly's debut is a solid piece of work. Mainly produced by Jason "Jay E" Epperson the tracks fit Nelly's distinctive sing-songy rhyme style. Some tracks are influenced by the sounds of the Dirty South like "For My" featuring Cash Money's Lil' Wayne or "Tho Dem Wrappas", but most of the time Nelly stays true to his St. Louis style. On songs like "Greed, Hate, Envy" and "St. Louie" the Lunatic reps hard for his city and his boys putti ng St. Louis definitely on the map. And even if the sounds on the album ain't all new, the MC brings some fresh style just by rhyming in his special Midwestern slang. This all, combined with the hit single "Country Grammar" played all over in every club, radio station, and car nationwide, made a lotta people pick up the album.
With that much commercial success we can soon expect some more records coming out of Nelly's camp and St. Louise similar to the New Orleans "phenomenon" two years ago. If you like Nelly's record, you're lucky 'cause I bet you'll get some supply soon. If not, better get used to the country grammar, poor bastard!