Interview by: Quaine
Dat Loonie from the Lou is heating up the House.
Nellyvile blasts onto the charts and turns up the heat.

MTV Video Music Award; BET, American Music and Soul Train awards. Last year he was heralded as one of People Magazine's "Breakthrough" talents of 2001.

Four Grammy nominations, two for Best Rap Solo Performance ("Ride Wit Me," “Country Grammar”), Best Rap/Song Collaboration ("Where The Party At," with Jagged Edge) and Best Rap Album (Country Grammar)and two Source Awards.

Cornell Haynes, Jr. or Nelly, seems unblinded and unfazed by his success, by the glare of stardom. For him, it's the fulfillment of a dream. For him, it's the completion of a process that began years ago and continues to evolve. In spite of all the jewelry and cars, despite all the splurging, newfound success has brought. We're talking a parents dream...raised to say "Sir", "Ma'am", "Please" and "Thank you". Nelly continues to keep his country midwestern
roots intact.

Nelly took the time from his BUSY promotions tour to talk with me about the new album and life after Country Grammar....

TELL ME ABOUT THE NEW ALBUM

It's life after success....Nellyville shows my natural element...having a good time. The songs are vivid, real and alive, filled with the sights and sounds of a type of paradise that exists i n my mind....Nellyville (laughs)...it's when I'm out kicking it, when I'm having fun, or when I'm chillin' with my folks...
My life has been tough already growing up and that's not really something I choose to dwell on. It wasn't the most exciting time for me so I don't choose to bring it up on every song, although I do touch on it sometimes. I think I will always touch on it but for the most part, on the majority of the album, we're just rocking
and rolling-it’s Nellyville'.

SO, TELL ME...HOW THE BROTHA DOING...THEY AIN'T RUNNING YOU TOO MUCH ARE THEY?

Man (laughs)..you just don't know....I just finished like three interviews at once...got spots in front of my eyes from the camera flashes....but, I'm doing..definitely can't complain.

"HOT IN HERRE" ('here' with a St. Louie twist)IS THE NEPTUNE PRODUCED FIRST SINGLE OFF THE ALBUM...WHY THAT SONG AS THE DEBUT SINGLE?

We've all been to a party that was hot, but we just won't leave because it's rocking. You're Like ‘It's hot in here but I'm jammin', I'm having a good time, I'm sweatin'.’ But, it's a flame-throwing, soul-burning, shirt-sticking-to-your-skin party....it's THAT kind of joint...cause no matter how hot it is in there you don't wanna leave." And the hook on "Hot In Herre" features Dani Stevenson...girly adds to the heat you know...we all knew Hot in Herre should be the first joint out the gate.

YOUR FIRST ALBUM, COUNTRY GRAMMAR HAD THREE OUT THE DOOR HITS AND GOT YOU 3 GRAMMY'S....NOW HOT IN HERE IS BLOWING UP...ARE YOU OUT TOP GRAMMAR?

Grammar is an album unto itself and it wasn't OUR first album, (pauses)I say "our" because first and foremost I'm a St Lunatic......and we started underground back there in the Lou'in '94, and we managed to get something on the radio in '96, which did pretty well for us. It got us to number one, as far as the local station. Sold almost 10,000 copies out our truck, and then local record stores and stuff like that. It helped us get that foundation.....like St. Louis, the hometown...and then get them behind us, like, "OK, they makin' some cool jams.
They hot. All right. We gonna stay on this bandwagon," 'cause St. Louis is kind of funny like that. You're gonna have one hit locally, and then everything else, they're like, "Ah well, OK," and they're off your wagon. But they seem to be on the wagon and pushing it and pulling it and driving it, so it's all good for us. So, to answer your question....we got love whether we "out-do" Country Grammar or not.

YOU'RE NOT NEW TO THIS GAME....BUT, YOU SEEM REAL UNSELFISH..
PARTICULARLY WHEN YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT ST. LOUIS....IS THAT YOUR GOAL...TO SHOWCASE ST. LOUIS AND IT'S TALENT

That is a mission in itself. Just bringing St. Louis up, 'cause there's a lot of people who don't even know where St. Louis is. But it's all gravy. I'm hoping we can get the notoriety for now, but St. Louis is our (Nelly and the St. Lunatics) foundation. No matter what we do right now, we always can fall back on the Lou', cause they've been loving us.
They've been holding us up for so long. Any time we go down, they can give us that boost to come back up, and I think everybody needs that. Lock down home first, 'cause that's very important, I think.

GETTING ON THE SUBJECT OF HATERS IN HIP HOP...THERE'S SAID TO BE SOME KIND OF BEEF BETWEEN YOU AND THE BLASTMASTER KRS-ONE.....CARE TO ELABORATE ON IT?

Naw...not really anything to say...I respect KRS-ONE...I think that should be enough. If you got a problem with me, call me, page me, two-way me...I got publicists. Don’t make sneak raps. He (KRS-One) should have come to me and said, “Nelly, I really didn’t like what you said about people judging Hip Hop performers and what Hip Hop is.”
KRS-One is one of the Hip Hop elite. I would’ve said I’m sorry, my bad...Now some people are like, That asshole in the Lou' don't have no respect for the "Old School". What's happening in today's music industry has nothing to do with lack of respect. Respect is earned. All this beef stuff and battling by album is too much for me. I'm about handling my biz, fam...and holdiing down the Lou'.

SOME TALK ABOUT SOPHOMORE JINX..WHICH DEFINITELY DOESN'T APPLY TO NELLYVILLE ACCORDING TO THE CHARTS...BUT, WHEN YOU WERE MAKING THE ALBUM...WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS?

When I was doing Country Grammar I was basically at the crib waiting to release Country Grammar, but with Nellyville I've been on the road. But St. Lou flavor follows me wherever I go now.
It's not like I moved after Grammar. I haven't broke out to buy a big house on either coast or to be away from home for too long. I was making an album for my "big thirties" and those that showed love throughout mine and the Lunatics hard times....that's what I was thinking.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR INFLUENCES?

We get what's hot on the East, we get what's hot on the West, we definitely get what's hot on the South and Midwest, for sure. We try to combine that, 'cause we've got a lot of rap acts in St. Louis. A lot of people take more or less to the West Coast side of things; we got some people who take to the Southern side of things, some people take to the East Coast side of things.
'Cause that's like when a group comes out in St. Louis, you don't really know what it's gonna sound like, for real, until you hear them, 'cause people take from all different sides. I listen to everybody from 2Pac, Biggie... when you say L.L., man, you know that's a big influence right there. Snoop, Goodie M.O.B., Outkast.
We just pump it all right there. If it's hot, it's definitely in St. Louis. You don't know what's hot, you come to St. Louis, 'cause it's like in the middle, so you gonna hear it all. Our radio stations play it all, 'cause we don't have a lot of independent music that we're playing on our radio.
Now I've got a couple of songs. We've got a couple of independentlabels that's getting a few more spins now because of the success that we're having, so to speak. It's opening up our radio stations to be like, "OK, well, let's play more of our own music a little more." But we still bump a lot of stuff from other regions and other areas.

YOU HAVEN'T ALWAYS LIVED IN ST LOU...TELL ME ABOUT YOUR CHILDHOOD?

I was born in Texas. I was always moving around. It wasn't like I stayed in one spot for too long. I've been to, like, eight different schools. Four of them, I kind of got booted out a little bit. Another four came from just moving around, switching different families.
I've always been kind of on my own, but not on my own. It helped me to rely on myself a lot. I talked to myself a lot...you know, I ain't crazy or nothing...but kind of like, "All right, Nelly, what was really going on?" I gotta sit back and talk to myself and reflect, 'cause I kind of feel like that's all I got. But I love my mom, my father.
I got family behind me. Support, no doubt. But it's just some things you like to talk to yourself about, that you just can't tell other people. That's what I do. When I moved around a lot, moving from Texas to Spain... I don't really remember too much about Spain. I probably remember one thing. Like "uno, dos," that's probably about it. But I was real young.
Then we moved to St. Louis, and then my parents got divorced. I was kind of split between them families like that, and then moving around amongst friends and family, and I was just always on the go. It reflects in my music too, the way I like to do different styles and come off on different songs. It's like the different moods I was in. It's like life, you know? It's the way I was feeling at a young age.

YOU HAVE THE NEPTUNES WORKING PRODUCTION ON HOT IN HERRE...WHO ELSE CAN WE EXPECT TO HEAR ON THE ‘VILLE?

Definitely gonna show love to my mans up in Bassment Productions...The Neptunes are just one of the acts that appear on Nellyville... the Lunatics crew, of course...that's family, not guests.....Justin Timberlake from N Sync on "Work It" , Justin hooked me up on the remix of N Sync's "Girlfriend".....we got Destiny's Child's Kelly Rowland on "Dilemma" Dilemma is about this girl.
She has a baby's father and she has a son but she's not really happy in the relationship... I'm kinda like the outsider. She's diggin' me but it ain't that easy for her to just pack up and run out like that. It's deeper than that between her and her baby's daddy. So all I'm doing is lettin' her know, 'I'll be there'...it's real nice. Kelly did her thing on that.

WHAT ARE THE SOME OF THE GOOD THINGS THAT HAS COME WITH YOUR FAME?

I 've been able to start a charity called 4 Sho 4 Kids, a local organization... it helps underprivileged inner-city children. We sponsor basketball benefits, literacy efforts and I use my celebrity to offer the kids incentives to stay in school and increase scholastic test scores.
A large portion of my audience are kids and if I can help them as well as they've supported me, it's beautiful for both sides. I think success has brought me more completion as far as me working so hard to get something and finally watching it come true. That restores
your faith within yourself.

WHAT DO YOU GOT GOING ON IN THE COMING MONTHS?

Well....I will be doing the US album promotion up until about August..then we head over to Europe....I am playing in an independent movie “Snipes.” The movie is slated to be this year. We also have the new clothing line, Vokal...I'm just getting into running the company..so,don't think it's just my name supporting the clothing line...it' my business.....I and the Lunatics have a lot happening in the coming year...just keep a look out.

WELL, NELLY I APPRECIATED THE TIME...GOOD LUCK ON THE ALBUM AND EVERYTHING ELSE...CATCH YOU ON
TOUR...

Good looking out bro...much love to all your readers from me and St Lou.