NELLY
As a teen Nelly often got into some trouble on the streets. He ended up in a lot of fights but luckily his mother moved the family to a suburban area called University City. By the time he started high school, he had developed a passion for baseball which helped keep him off the streets and out of trouble. Nelly also realized that he had a knack for storytelling, and writing rhymes. That's when he hooked up with his boys Big Lee, Kyjuan Ali, Murphy Lee, and City Spud (who is actually Nelly's younger brother), and together they formed the St. Lunatics.
Two years after hooking up, the fellas turned out a 12" self-produced single called, "Gimme What Ya Got" and it sold almost 10,000 copies. The St. Lunatics put out another self-produced track called, "Who's The Boss," which became another local hit. These singles gained them lots of attention locally but didn't grab the interest of record companies.
They even went to pitch their music in Atlanta hoping to grab the attention of the souther producers. They eventually teamed up with Kula who was managing Mase at that time but still didn't have much luck. Collectively, the guys decided that Nelly would have a better chance making it in the rap game by himself. They were sure that his stage presence and rapping skills would get him through the door and then the rest of the group would follow with solo albums of their own. So at age 19, Nelly (with Kula's help) attracted the attention of Universal Records exec Kevin Law in 1999.
He released his debut album, "Country Grammar" in 2000. True to his boys, Nelly's album featured tracks from the St. Lunatics as well the Teamsters, Lil' Wayne, and Cedric the Entertainer, and spent weeks at the top of the charts. Nelly seemed to blow up over night. "Country Grammar (Hot Sh*t)" became the #1 single of the summer. He continued his success with "Ride Wit Me" and also kept true to his word and worked to put his hometown of St. Louis and his crew the St. Lunatics on the map. Nelly said that he is and always will be a member of the St. Lunatics. And he did just that in 2001 when St. Lunatics debuted their album "Free City" featuring the single "Midwest Swing."
But 2002 semmed to be Nelly's year. His popularity went through the roof and he topped 10 different Billboard charts the first week of his Nellyville album release. The album's first single, "Hot in Herre" stayed on top of the charts for weeks on end. Nelly's definitely here to stay and you've got to admit.. he is #1.
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