Record Label: Fo Reel/ Universal Records
Featured Artists: Christina Aguilera, Missy Elliot, Mobb Deep, Lil' Flip, Fat Joe
Article by: Premiere
Nelly explodes in on a very high note; while he's not exactly the first to sample the famous NBA on NBC theme, he's certainly the first to do so with a real school choir and references to "Sanford & Son". "Heart of A Champion" is like his attempt at "Eye of the Tiger"-inspiration/ chessiness. It works very well; however, it's basically a trick that misguides the listener into thinking he or she may actually be hearing a decent album. "Na-Nana-Na" is as well thought out as it's name; it's a faux-crunk club song that makes Jazze Pha look like nothing more than a Lil' Jon knockoff. "Flap Your Wings" is the Neptunes-produced first single which attempts to hit "Hot in Herre"-like success; it might have had it not been for it's awfulness. The formualic beat, while still a head-nodder, is far too minimalistic to carry Nelly's sing-a-long, childish rhymes (exp., "Now shall I proceed/ Yes, Indeed!"). "American Dream" is only memorable for it's horrible, awful, just bad line: "Not the type to kiss & tell/ But if I catch ya in the shower, I might kiss ya tail". "River Don't Runn" is Nelly getting Bob Marley's son Stephen so he can have the credibility to make a horrible reggae song. Murphy Lee also adds his own pathetic patois to the mix, helping Nelly to give the listener the feel of drinking a Parrot Ice and pretending they're in Jamaica: fake. "Tilt Ya Head Back" is musical blasphemy; Nelly and cohort Aguilera have no right to destroy Curtis Mayfield's legendary "Superfly". Nelly also proceeds to not rap a single line in this song. "Grand Hang Out" is his pedictably gangsta track; to push this idea, he lets Fat Joe and Remy Ma add some sinisterness. "Getcha Getcha" and "Another One" sound like everything in Nelly's catalouge, and are instantly skipable. The crunk unfortunately returns in "Spida Man"; he sounds very Mase-like on this one, with his 5-mile per hour flow. "Playa" is just a strange excursion; Mobb Deep try to add some griminess, while Missy adds some freakiness, but Nelly basically adds nothing. It's an uneven, mishmash of musical tastes in one song, and I'm not sure which fans it's aimed at (or which of those fans will like it). "Down in the Water", while not exactly the epitomy of lyricism, is a refreshing horn-heavy taste of country. He finishes this album with "Boy", his final venture into crunk. He takes some dirty, dirty natives with him to hlp, but Lil' Flip and Big Gipp only prove this is not Cornell Haynes forte. Nelly basically tryed to capitalize on too many fads at once on this, and only succeeded very rarely. This album doesn't exactly build up a lot of hype for the "grown & sexy" half of this experiment, Suit. But it does prove Nelly is not a rapper anymore; he's simply a music performer who dabbles in hip-hop. iPod Worthy: "Heart of A Champion", "Down in the Water" Blehhhhhhhh: "Tilt Ya Head Back", "Na-Nana-Na", "River Don't Runn", "Spida Man" Overall: 2 out of Six Shots
Some artists try to reach their artistic peaks on double albums. They have not pulled it off in hip-hop. Jay-Z, 2Pac, Outkast, Notorius B.I.G.; all of these great artists have failed at making double albums the centerpiece of their careers. As Nas is busy trying to accomplish what those legends have failed at, Nelly is showing how to take the idea to new heights: two different albums released on the same day. As the hip-pop megastar attempts to do this unheard-of feat, he grabs every star in his reach: on the Sweat album alone, he features Christina Aguilera, Jazze Pha, Missy Elliot, Mobb Deep, Fat Joe, Lil' Flip, every member of his St. Lunatics group, and many more. While Nelly tries his best to appeal to evryone, he spreads his melodies and singing a bit too thin. Of course, maybe there shouldn't have been as much of those in the first place.