On the season 9 premiere of “Drink Champs,” N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN were joined by diamond-selling rapper Nelly.
A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Nelly’s career started in the early 1990s as a member of the St. Lunatics. Though he always kept the family close throughout the course of his career, he flew solo years after their debut and had a massive run in the 2000s that included albums like Country Grammar and Nellyville, as well as singles like “Hot in Herre,” “E.I.,” “Dilemma,” “Ride Wit Me” and many more. A three-time Grammy Award winner, Nelly emerged as one of the biggest artists in the world. Across the years, he has racked up No. 1 songs, albums and cultural feats that etched his name into Hip Hop’s history.
During this discussion, he breaks down the arc of his music career, talks about venturing into acting and fashion with brands like Apple Bottom jeans, gives an inside look at rekindling with Ashanti, and much more. Nine takeaways from the conversation are below and you can check out the full episode here.
1. On his iconic bandaid look
At one point in his career, Nelly wearing a bandaid under his eye became a part of the rapper’s brand. Here, he explained the origin of that decision. “I just got down here [to Miami] recording a large part of Nellyville. And we was down here hooping and f**king around and stuff like that, and I got whacked. I went and put the bandaid on it,” he said. Furthermore, the bandaid eventually became a nod to his friend, City. “We wanted to keep representing, keep showing my little brother some love because he was locked down. He actually did the rap on ‘Ride Wit Me,’ but he was never in the video because he was locked up. We named the St. Lunatics album after him, and just started repping the bandaid like, f**k it, I’mma hold cuz down. We gon’ ride this thing out until he get out of here.”
2. On Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance
Weighing in on Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show performance, Nelly said, “Kendrick did Kendrick. I don’t know what people were expecting him to do. Kendrick is a rapper. He wasn’t gonna two-step. I think he did a great job.” He continued, “Who I also think should get a lot of credit, is who put that d**n show together. Because that choreography and all that movement and simultaneously, whoever did that, behind the scenes, they need a raise.”
3. On preparing for his own Super Bowl halftime performances
With that in mind, Nelly also broke down what it took to prepare when he performed at the Super Bowl back in 2001 and 2004. “You in that s**t for two weeks in rehearsals. I think the first time we did it, we started rehearsals somewhere else. It was enclosed in a studio. And they kind of set a mock stage up to run it through,” he remembered. “It’s almost like 3-4 hours, then it moves to like 6-8 hours, then the closer you get, it might move to, like, 12-hour f**king rehearsals. But you got breaks and s**t in between there. And then it goes so mothaf**king fast.”
4. On being called out by KRS-One
In 1988, KRS-One dropped a song called “I’m Still #1.” Thirteen years later, Nelly released his track “#1.” KRS-One didn’t take kindly to that similarity and initiated a dispute with the St. Louis native. Nelly recalled, “Never in my wildest dreams am I ever thinking that anything I’m doing is on his radar… It didn’t make sense to me.” He went on, “I didn't understand the politics of him having a project that he wanted to introduce to the world. And you’re gonna go at the n**ga that’s at the top. Because you’re gonna get the press, so I took it personally.” They eventually made peace when Nelly paid his respects to his fellow rapper and KRS-One explained that his sentiments were never personal.
5. On popularizing the sing-rap style
Nelly spoke about being one of the first Hip Hop acts in the mainstream to popularize the now-common blend of styles. “I definitely think I’m one of the ones who popularized it and took it to another level. But I’m not going to act like I ain’t a product of CeeLo Green. I’m not gonna act like I’m not a product of Arrested Development. I’m not gonna act like I’m not a product of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony,” he declared. He chalked up having a melting pot of styles to being from the Midwest: “A lot of the people who are super huge always come from the middle of the map. Why? Because we are a huge mixture of everything.”
6. On the difference between Kendrick Lamar and Drake
When asked to choose between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, the diamond-selling rapper carved some time out to break down what each act represents at large. “Kendrick is holding down a whole coast, but some might say Drake is holding down a whole country… If you look at Kendrick, you think more of a traditional Hip Hop superstar. When you think of Drake, you just think of a superstar. Even though he is Hip Hop. Not saying he ain’t did his thing. But it’s just different,” Nelly explained. “Kendrick is a part of where we come from… When somebody makes it who comes from where you come from, you look at them a little differently. They get a little bit more of a validation because you understand the fight that they had to get to where they are.”
7. On reuniting with Ashanti at Verzuz
So, what really happened when Nelly swooped across stage to reconnect with Ashanti during Fat Joe and Ja Rule’s Verzuz battle in 2021? Nelly explained, “I wasn’t expecting that. I had somebody with me when I came there. ‘Cause I wasn’t on that.” He expressed, “I didn’t want the intensity. Because I’m here celebrating each other’s music because I f**k with Joe, I f**k with Ja obviously. And they f**k with each other… So, I was like, ‘Let me go on over here and break the ice.’” Nelly then voiced how Fat Joe was always pushing for the two musicians to get back together over time. “He can have that credit because if it f**ks up again, I know who to call,” Nelly joked.
8. On the “Tip Drill” music video on “BET: Uncut”
If you search “BET: Uncut” right now, Nelly’s “Tip Drill” music video is likely to come up in the results too. A notable staple in late television and the culture, the visual has an interesting backstory. “Shoutout to Miami because Uncle Luke, he threw one of the most famous Uncle Luke parties in St. Louis ever to be recorded… So, I was like I’mma make some videos like this.” Moreover, he stated, “We was doing the dirty versions, the remix album where we remixed all of the songs. And that was one of the songs. ‘Tip Drill’ was the remix to ‘E.I.’ Universal wasn’t gonna shoot no videos for the remixes… When I saw ‘BET: Uncut,’ I was like, f**k it, let’s do a video for this. This won’t be expensive.” So, that’s exactly what they did at a mansion in Atlanta.
9. On Sexyy Red’s authenticity and today’s subject matter in music
Fellow St. Louis native Sexyy Red came up at some point during the discussion, and Nelly applauded her authenticity. He used her as an example to address the controversy of women’s sexual liberation in Hip Hop. “When you look at a span of when women have literally controlled the music, the biggest songs are definitely songs [about] sex. And again, they can do that. It’s not an issue. But, if you look at their stories, they’re doing it more so because of the business… So, in other words, h** music was cool until a real one showed up,” he said. “Don’t s**t on our little sister now because she’s telling her truth. Y’all opened the door for her to tell her truth.”