At nearly four million units sold and counting, Nelly is arguably the hottest ticket in hip-hop today. His current album, Nellyville, manhandles vets like Bruce Springsteen, and his debut singles, �Hot In Herre,� and �Dilemma� own the top of the singles charts. They may not relinquish those spots anytime soon. Allhiphop.com�s Damainion Ewell had a chance to sit with Nelly and discuss a few open issues fans may not know. 

AllHipHop: Tell the fans about the new movie that you have coming out.

Nelly: Yeah, fa sho! I got a movie called �Snipes� coming out. We are due out in September. It feels good, man. It�s an independent film we did like two years ago, so there�s no big blockbuster budget or nothing like that. No big blowout scenes or nothing like that, just straight getting to the point, you hear me?

AHH: Word! What�s the release date on that? 

N: September 13th. 

AHH: So you are about to blow up the big screen in a minute, huh? 

N: Yeah, but it�s only going to show in selected theatres and then go straight to DVD. Like I said, it�s an independent sample for us, and we just want to see how it goes.

AHH: I also heard you are working on getting a sitcom. What�s the word on that?

N: We were talking about it and all that, you know what I�m saying? It�s in negotiations, just trying to figure out what it would be and what it would do. It kind of got leaked out and people been talking about it. But, we haven�t settled anything yet. 

AHH: People want to know what�s up with the Band-Aid you wear on your face.

N: The Band-Aid is for my little brother. My little brother, City Spud, is locked up. I wear it for him, just to let him know we are holding it down for him until he gets out. When it came about, I had a cut on my other eye. I wore it on my right eye, now I wear it on my left. I used to wear it when I got cut under my eye hoopin�, and I didn�t think nothing of it, I just put a Band-Aid on it. I only wear it now when I think you might see it.

AHH: What�s up with the mask that Murphy Lee wears, man?

N: He likes to sign the hype. That�s his thing, you know? 

AHH: When is the next St. Lunatics album coming out?

N: We are thinking about doing our next jump-off probably next year. We are trying to schedule it after Murph�s album at the top of the year.

AHH: Now, you are killin� the Billboard singles charts. That�s about as big as it�s going to get. Do you think you can attain anything greater than that?

N: Um, I don�t think so. I mean, you just do what you do. They just put me up on how big that was. We were constantly getting news about different things that was going on with the album, just the achievement of it. When they first told me, I was happy, but I couldn�t grasp exactly what that was. They brought me some facts, and to put it better in perspective, let�s just say me and The Beatles. I was like, �whoa!� 

AHH: With the kind of success you are riding with right now, do you expect to take it a step further and do other things (like you are doing with the clothing line)?

N: Hopefully. I think that�s what you want to do. You want to start doing other things. I think that more and more young brothers are getting into Hip-Hop looking more towards being entrepreneurs, not just being limited. You come in, and you know, they give you some jewelry, a couple of cars and you�ll be quiet. But, we want more than that. Don�t let that get twisted! If you look at the best entrepreneurs, they�re a little icy. P-Diddy, he loves to be icy. Master P and Jay-Hova love to be icy, too. These are people who found success outside of Hip-Hop as far as other ventures on a business level. I definitely look at P, Puff, Ice Cube, Hov, and people who have been to take things to a different level. 

AHH: Have you collaborated with everybody you want to, or is there other people you want to work with in the future? 

N: Leave it up to me, I want to work with everybody damn near. You can create new sounds and different feels with different people. I want to work with Cee-Lo, Outkast, and Scarface�I want to keep it versatile. I want to do a song with me, Mike, and Janet! 

AHH: (laughs) Also, I wanted to know about that song �Dilemma� with Kelly Rowland (Destiny�s Child). Is there any truth to the hook she was singing?

N: That�s just the song. I�m good friends with DC, and I know their people�they�re family and all that. But, it ain�t nothing like that, pimpjuice. 

AHH: Where do your Hip-Hop roots come from? Do you listen to a lot of underground or what?

N: Ah man, I�m straight gangsta! I�m from St. Louis, man! There was NWA, E-40, Spice-1, MC Eiht, UGK, 8-Ball and MJG, South Circle, Three 6 Mafia, P & No Limit, TRU, it was all gangsta for me.

AHH: Have you caught a lot of heat for collaborating with cats like NSYNC?

N: Of course there�s going to be somebody with something smart to say, but we knew that before we went into the studio. But, I didn�t care because I knew the song was going to be hot. I just let the song speak for itself. When Run-DMC did �Walk This Way� with Aerosmith, you think they didn�t catch slack? What would Hip-Hop be without that song? Now, you got Method Man and Limp Biskit, Eve and Gwen, and it makes for a whole new collaboration, man. It just shows the world that Hip-Hop is the most dominant.

AHH: One last question before we wrap this up. I know Steve Harvey had given you some sound money advice. Have you taken heed to his wisdom?

N: Fortunately, I got big homies looking out for little dirty when I first came in, you know? Steve and Cedric The Entertainer look out for me. And then, I had good friends, too. Good people who were with me before this that was looking out for my best interests while I was going through these things. I was taught never to be ashamed of not knowing. If you don�t know, don�t act like you know, then when shit go down, you are feeling dumb about it.


Source: Allhiphop.com
By Damainion Ewell
 

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