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| ABOUT NELLY |
Name: Cornell Haynes Jr.
Nickname: Nelly
Age: 22
Born In: Austin, Texas
Location: St. Louis
Siblings: Has a younger half brother Lavell "City Spud" Webb
Nelly went to Spain with his father, Air Force Man Cornall Haynes Sr., until he was 3 years old, then moved to St. Louis. was Nelly grew up in St. Louis. Nelly folks struggled financially ("Neither could afford to keep me, Nelly says") and split up when he was 7. As the youngest child in the neighborhood he grew up getting into trouble with the big kids. As a result to that he ended up moving around to live with various family members. This is the reason he tends to spend a lot of time by himself. He dreamed of playing pro baseball. In high school he formed a group called the St. Lunatics. The group consisted of him and some of his friends(Kyjuan, Murphy Lee, Slo Down, City Spud, and Ali) from high school. Nelly began listening to artists like Rakim, LL Cool J, Run-DMC, OutKast, Goodie Mob, and Jay-Z. He became convinced that his gift for rap could be parlayed into a career. "Rappers like Bigge and Tupac brought something different to the music," so that's exactly what he's doing. He has his own style of rap which he likes to describe as a jazz form of hip-hop. He doesn't know what he going to sound like until he hears the beat. The first song that Nelly and the St. Lunatics made was Gimmie What You Got. The Song "Gimmie What You Got" sold 7,000 units regionally and dominated airwaves, rising to the number one spot on St. Louis' number one hip-hop station. After that song the St. Lunatics encouraged Nelly to go solo and he did. He signed a record deal with Universal Records. Now Nelly is big in the music business along with the Lunatics. He has put St. Louis on the map and he wants the whole world to know who he is. His first single "Country Grammar" blew up big among radio stations. Nellys explains that Country Grammar means "St. Louis is a country part of the U.S. and the way we talk, dress, and our actions are all country." His second single "E.I." means "Yes! Bring It On!" Now he has a third single out called "Ride Wit Me." His debut album Country Grammar started out with a slow, steady gallop before breaking into a rapid race to the number one spot on the Billboard's LP Chart In just SIX weeks his album was certified double platinum. You can see Nelly in the upcoming movie "Snipes" where he plays a hip-hop artist who is kidnapped on the eve of his big album's release. "Snipes isn't a typical hip-hop film where we came up with a story for an excuse to put a bunch of rappers on film and sell a good soundtrack" says Schwartz(The president/CEO of RuffWorld Entertainment and RuffNation Films). Nelly claims that even mega pop star experiences "that kind of racism you see in other places." When asked him to elaborate, he smiled mischievously and chuckled, "I done got pulled over before. I done been in a police station before. I done had a warrant before (for assault and driving violations, as well as some othershe wouldn't discuss.)" "The thing is, you tell them your a rap artist, and then they act like yeah, whatever, until you tell them who you are, and then it's like", "Oh Shit, it really is you." Nelly was casted as the door kicker for the rest of the Lunatics. It was a good choice says Ali. "We knew he could get younger girls; the 10-13 year olds who really buy a lot of records. He had the look they like; the face, the body, you know, the 6-pack abs, and that melodic vocal style. So we felt that putting him out there would be our best shot; we're family anyhow, so we don't care who comes first." The St. Lunatics debut album is out now! So go buy it!! The groups reaction to the reported "take that shit back to the country" dis by Eminem on MTV ranks just above a shrug. The most distinctive aspect of St. Louis patter is the way they slur R's, says Nelly. "Like this hurrrr." "We just speak the way we do," he continues. "we get criticized for the way we talk. People say, 'Oh, y'all country this and country that.' We don't worry about it, since they're going to say what they're going to say." He liked being at the MTV Awards, he says it's like they're telling you, "You got the flavor." "I'm just glad I'm making my presence felt."