This St. Louis, Missouri, USA-based rap crew first made waves in 1996 with the underground hit, "Gimme What Ya Got". The outfit was formed in 1993 by Nelly (b. Cornell Haynes Jnr., Austin, Texas, USA), City Spud (b. Lavell Webb), Kyjuan (b. Robert Cleveland), Murphy Lee (b. Tohri Harper), Slow Down (b. Corey Edwards), and Big Lee (b. Ali Jones). Despite the success of "Gimme What Ya Got", the St. Lunatics failed to win a major label recording contract. In the end, Nelly signed to Universal Records as a solo artist, and went on to enjoy multi-platinum success with his 2000 debut, Country Grammar. He subsequently returned to his long-time crew to record Free City. The album broke into the US Top 5 in June 2001, confirming Nelly's commercial potency. The title of the album referred to the imprisonment of crew member City Spud on charges that the group would rather remain private about.
