Nelly Totally Explained

Everything about Nelly totally explained

Cornell Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), best known by his stage name Nelly, is a rapper from St. Louis, Missouri and part of the rap group St. Lunatics. He performed with the group independently from 1996 to 2000, when he was signed to Universal Records. Under Universal, Nelly has four solo studio albums released in his name and several number-one hits. He also won Grammy Awards in 2003 and 2004. He also starred in the 2005 remake film The Longest Yard alongside Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. In addition, Nelly played in the Main Event at the 2007 World Series of Poker. He is also one of the owners of the Charlotte Bobcats, along with Robert L. Johnson and NBA legend Michael Jordan.

Biography

He was born in Austin, TX. Raised in the inner-city, St. Louis, Missouri and then moved to suburban University City, where he formed the group St. Lunatics with his friends in the surrounding area. The group had a local hit in 1996 with the self-produced single "Gimme What You Got". After much frustration and failed attempts to be signed to a record deal, the members of St. Lunatics felt that Nelly would have a better shot at success as a solo act, to gain recognition first as a soloist and then bring in the rest of his group, the St. Lunatics in the time to come. Similar claims of misogyny also surrounded Nelly's single "Pimp Juice".
Nike and Nelly agreed on a one-year deal in 2003 to release a limited-edition sneaker called the "Air Derrty" which was a retro remake of Charles Barkley's signature sneaker the Nike Air Max2 CB '94 which was released in 2003 at select NIKE town stores in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, as well the Squad 1 shoe store in St. Louis, Nelly's hometown. He later made a deal with Reebok, stating, "I’ve always been into sneakers and throughout my career I’ve always wanted to have a signature pair of sneakers that truly reflect my personal style. It made the most sense for me to partner with Reebok because they fully understand and respect the culture of sports, music and entertainment."
At the 2003 Grammys, he received two awards; one for Best Male Rap Solo Performance, and another shared with Kelly Rowland for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. He won his third Grammy in 2004 for his and P. Diddy's guest vocals in Murphy Lee's number-one hit single "Shake Ya Tailfeather" from Lee's album Murphy's Law.

Sweat/Suit era

On September 14, 2004, Nelly released two albums simultaneously, Sweat and Suit. Suit, an R&B-oriented album, debuted at number one on the Billboard albums chart, and Sweat, a rap-oriented album, debuted at number two in the same week. From the Suit album, the slow ballad "Over and Over", an unlikely duet with country music star Tim McGraw, became another crossover hit. On the 2004 NBC television concert special Tim McGraw: Here and Now, McGraw and Nelly performed the song. A minor feud with another St. Louis-based rapper, Chingy, came up near the end of the year. Tsunami Aid: A Concert for Hope, a 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake benefit concert special produced by NBC also featured Nelly in its lineup. In the winter of 2005 came Sweatsuit, a compilation album consisting of selected tracks from Sweat and Suit and well as three new tracks including "Grillz", another number-one hit.
Also in 2005, Nelly was featured on The Notorious B.I.G.'s posthumous song "Nasty Girl" alongside Jagged Edge, P. Diddy and Avery Storm. "Nasty Girl" was on the Notorious B.I.G's posthumously released album, and Nelly's own Sweatsuit. Nelly was also featured on the track "To the Floor" on Mariah Carey's 2005 album The Emancipation of Mimi.
Then in 2006, he was featured on "Call on Me", Janet Jackson's first single from her 20 Y.O. album.

Brass Knuckles

In 2007, he appeared on tracks for the albums Double Up by R. Kelly and T.I. vs. T.I.P. by T.I.. He also appeared on Ashanti's track "Switch". A street single called "Cut it Out" was released later that year for his upcoming album Brass Knuckles, which will be released on June 24, 2008. Initial release dates for the album targeted October 16 and November 13 in 2007.
Its lead single was "Wadsyaname", a ballad-oriented track produced by Neff-U and sampling the piano riff from the R&B song "All My Life" by K-Ci & JoJo. This hit was a smaller blockbuster and racked up a good promising future for this hip hop star. The film debuted at number three at the American box office behind Star Wars Episode III and Madagascar (the latter of which also stars Chris Rock) and became MTV Films' most successful release grossing over a hundred million U.S. dollars in the U.S. alone. Nelly also completed a song for the soundtrack, appropriately titled "The Longest Yard."

Discography

Albums

2000: Country Grammar
2002: Nellyville
2004: Suit
2004: Sweat
2008: Brass Knuckles

Compilation albums

2001: Free City (with St. Lunatics)

2003:

2004: Sweat / Suit

2005: Sweatsuit

2006: Who's The Boss (with St. Lunatics)

Grammy awards

Career Stats

Career wins: 3

Career nominations: 11

Year	Category	Genre	Title
2003	Best Rap/Song Collaboration	Rap	"Dilemma"
2003	Best Male Rap Solo Performance	Rap	"Hot in Herre"
2004	Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group	Rap	"Shake Ya Tailfeather"

Further Information

Get more info on 'Nelly'.

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