Best Known As: The guy who did the song "Hot in Herre"
Name at birth: Cornell Haynes, Jr.
Nelly became a hip-hop and pop superstar after the success of his solo 2000 release, Country Grammar. The album spawned three big hits (including "Ride Wit Me") and three Grammy awards and Nelly became an MTV favorite, recognized by a stylish band-aid on one cheek. His second effort, Nellyville, (2002) was equally successful. It included the hits "Dilemma" and "Hot in Herre" and was nominated for five Grammy awards, including Album of the Year. In 2004 Nelly released two albums at the same time, Sweat and Suit, and in September they briefly held the two top spots on the charts. Nelly has been equally active as a businessman; among other ventures, in 2003 he released his own energy drink called "Pimp Juice," and in 2004 he became a minority owner of the NBA's Charlotte Hornets basketball team. He is also the CEO of Derrty Entertainment, his own company formed in 2003.
Nelly has been publicly coy about his year of birth, and does not list it in his official biography. In 2003 a story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper reported that he would celebrate his 25th birthday that year, giving him a birthdate of 1978. However, later reports seem to indicate clearly that the right year is 1974.
Born Cornell Haynes, Jr., on November 2, 1974 (some sources say 1978) in Austin, TX.
Career
Rapper. Part of Group, St. Lunatics; had regional hit, "Gimme What Ya Want," 1996; released solo album, Country Grammar, 2000; released St. Lunatics album, Free City, 2001.
Life's Work
After plowing at his craft for seven years, rapper Nelly has finally reached stardom for himself as well as his group, the St. Lunatics. His first release was praised for its originality and it was a commercial success. Nelly has also played an integral part in getting his hometown, St. Louis, Missouri, on the rap game's stratosphere. While New York City and its East Coast style, and the West Coast flavor of rappers such as Snoop Dogg, dominated the scene, Nelly is joining a growing list of artists without a New York-Los Angeles connection. Nelly's voice has a Midwest twang, but he does not hide it with any false East Coast bravado or fake tone of voice; rather, he appears proud of his St. Louis accent, that's part Southern and part city.
Cornell Haynes, Jr., was born in Texas, but his father was in the Air Force and moved the family to Spain. They eventually landed in St. Louis, Missouri, which Nelly calls home. "St. Louis is real, it's the rawest of the raw," Nelly said, on his website, nelly.net. "It's so small that everybody knows each other. I've got a love-hate relationship with it."As the family's youngest child, Nelly had a penchant for hanging with the older crowd and getting into trouble. It also caused him to become transient within his family, as his mother moved him around to live with several different relatives in hopes of changing his focus. "I went to eight different schools as a child; four of them I was kicked out of," Nelly told Rolling Stones Magazine. "I was a bad little [f-----,] always fighting. I was never in one place too long, living with my mom, my dad, my grandparents, my mom's friends, my daddy's friends."
The lure of the street had its ugly hooks on Nelly, but before drugs and gangs could take him under, his mother moved the family to University City, Missouri, a suburb outside of St. Louis. It was there that Nelly learned that life was more than hanging out and getting involved in mischievous activity, as he became more constructive with his time. Nelly began playing organized baseball and becoming good enough to attend training camps for the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates. On nelly.net, he stated, "I really thought that I'd be playing ball right now." But, at the same time that he excelled at baseball, Nelly was developing his rap skills. In 1993, the same year that the family left St. Louis, Nelly and his high school friends, Kyjuan, Ali, Murphy Lee, Jason, and Nelly's brother, City Spud, formed the St. Lunatics.
By 1996 the St. Lunatics had self-produced a song, "Gimmie What Ya Want," which was a smash hit locally and regionally. According to Nelly.net, "Gimmie What Ya Want" reached its peak by selling 7,000 units regionally and achieved No. 1 on St. Louis' top hip-hop station, FM 103. However, there was no immediate follow up to the St. Lunatics' success and it did not result in a national record deal, which was ultimately the group's goal. They made a bold move: the St. Lunatics sent Nelly out to seek a record deal. The gamble paid off, as Universal Records signed him to a deal and by 2000 Nelly had hit the scene. The debut album, Country Grammar was a mixture of melodic unique beats and simple lyrics that are easy to follow. The title song, "Country Grammar," featured a hook that was as catchy as a nursery rhyme. The refrain, "I'm goin' down, down baby ..." became etched in the minds of many rap fanatics who had no idea that St. Louis existed in the rap world. "We'll have kids running up and down the block all day, playing ghetto games," Nelly told Rolling Stone. "We can't afford all the high-priced games, so we make up our own games and our own chants; 'down, down baby' is just a chant from one of those games." As the nation heard more of the album, it became more impressed by Nelly, whose path seemed to mimic that of Master P, a New Orleans-based rapper, hitting the rap world with something that it had not heard before. The album was a multi-platinum success.
In the second single on the debut album "E.I.," Nelly began to introduce the rap audience and the nation to a whole new set of St. Louis slang. "E.I. means 'Yes! Bring it on!'" he explained at nelly.net. On the song, "Country Grammar," Nelly used the term, 'mo.' He explained the meaning to Rolling Stone. "In St. Louis we call our friends "mo," like 'That's my mo'. And we call our girls "mo-ette." While many people from urban metropolises call St. Louis "country" or "bama," Nelly has made it a city to be proud of.
Country Grammar propelled Nelly into the spotlight, as he was recognized at the Source Hip-Hop Music Awards. For his efforts, Nelly won both the Best New Artist of the Year and the Best Album of the Year. He performed at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. His career also reached a new pinnacle when he performed with Britney Spears and the Rolling Stones at the Super Bowl in January of 2001. Nelly also planned to launch his own apparel line, becoming the latest rap artist to do so. The new label, titled Vokal, stands for "very organized kids always learning," his manager told the St. Louis Business Journal.
Though he's experienced success as a solo artist and hopes to duplicate that as an entrepreneur, Nelly has not forgotten where it all started with the St. Lunatics. "I don't necessarily feel like a solo artist," he stated at nelly.net. "I'm just a key in the door for the rest of the St. Lunatics ... So it's St. Lunatics for life." The group released its album, Free City in 2001.
Awards
Source Awards, Best New Artist of the Year, Best Album of the Year, 2001.
Works
Selected discography
(Solo)
Country Grammar, Universal Records, 2000.
Nellyville, Universal Records, 2002.
Da Derrty Version: The Reinvention, Universal Records, 2003.
Born Cornell Haynes, Jr. on November 2, 1979, in Dallas, TX.
Signed with Universal Records, 1999; released debut album Country Grammar, 2000; released follow-up, Nellyville, 2002.
Awards:Source Awards, Album of the Year, New Artist of the Year, 2001; Teen Choice Awards for Choice Single, Choice Hook Up, Choice Song of the Summer, 2002; American Music Awards, Fans’ Choice Award, 2003.
Addresses:Record company—Universal Records, 1755 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. Website—Nelly Official Website: http://www.nelly.net.
Rap musician
"Yeah, when I make it, I’m gonna get this big … charm to hang around my neck!" Nelly told Rolling Stone about what he used to promise himself when he was hustling for money in his home town of St. Louis, Missouri. Living his prediction when he conducted the interview, the rapper born Cornell Haynes, Jr., wore a "NELLY" charm around his neck. Beginning with the single "Country Grammar (Hot …)," Nelly became successful beyond his wildest dreams. His first album, Country Grammar, sold more than eight million copies, turning him into an MTV hero.
The album’s success was no fluke. Another irresistible summer-singer chorus—"Take off all your clothes!"—turned Nelly’s follow-up single, "Hot in Herre," into a smash. The 2002 CD from which it came, Nellyville, included a guest appearance by Nelly’s pal (and ‘N Sync heartthrob) Justin Timberlake. The album sold three million copies in its first six months, and vied with Eminem and Bruce Springsteen for the top of the pop charts.
The son of divorced parents, Haynes was born on his father’s Air Force base in Texas and lived with a succession of St. Louis relatives beginning at age seven. During high school, he moved back in with his mother, still hustling to make extra money: in addition to working at McDonald’s, he told the New York Times, slyly, "I was doing whatever else I was doing." Haynes turned out to have many talents—he was a star high school baseball player, attracting scouts from the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves. (Critics would later remark on Nelly’s matter-of-fact athlete’s approach to fame and art.)
But sports weren’t in Nelly’s future. He discovered his interest in rap in 1993, forming the St. Lunatics with like-minded hip-hop fans Kyjuan, City Spud, Murphy Lee, and Jason. Within three years, they had nailed down a management contract, gone into the studio and recorded a 12-inch single, "Gimme What You Want." It became regionally popular, leading to interest from Universal Records. Nelly was the obvious solo star, but the St. Lunatics wound up with a record deal and a hit CD, Free City.
Nelly’s style is far from that of gangsta rappers like Chuck D. of Public Enemy. Nelly’s raps are filled with simple catchphrases like "don’t forget where you came from," his funk isn’t terribly complex, and his songwriting rarely strays from gangs-and-babes hip-hop themes. Veteran rapper KRS-One is among Nelly’s most vocal critics, ripping him for "going pop," according to the New York Times. (To which Nelly responded, in verse: "You the first old man should get a rapper’s pension/No hits since the cordless mic invention.")
Nelly elaborated to the New York Times in 2002: "It’s all hip-hop, but you got people trying to divide it, saying what is and what’s not. You going to walk into a roomful
of kids and tell them they wrong?" Timberlake, quoted in the same article, doesn’t see Nelly as a rapper at all. "I personally consider him a blues singer, you know—even though everybody thinks he’s a rapper—because he’s got a really good voice."
Nelly’s style is also simple and catchy, returning hip-hop to its early days of bragging, rhyming, and partying. Nelly himself is the same way: He’s still a proud member of the St. Lunatics, and he regularly wears a Band-Aid on his left cheek in case an old friend, convicted robber Lavell "City Spud" Webb, might see it. The Band-Aid, Nelly told USA Today, came from an incident involving a basketball game and an opponent’s watch. "Before I knew it," Nelly said, "I had 9-and 10-year-old kids running up to me with four and five Band-Aids on their faces. It was crazy."
Nelly has been known to play the prima donna, showing up hours late for interviews or, in the case of one early supporter from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, not at all. Nonetheless, a major career blueprint seems to be "don’t forget where you came from"—he poses in front of the St. Louis arch on the cover of Country Grammar, wears flashy St. Louis Rams chains, and puts out songs called "St. Louie." He added the extra "r" to "Hot in Herre" to mimic St. Louis pronunciation. "Nelly has reduced his life story to a geographical fact," the New York Times’ Kelefa Sanneh sniffed in 2002. "He comes from St. Louis."
Nelly, an unmarried father of two, runs a St. Louis-based charity, 4sho4kids, to help those with drug addictions and developmental disabilities. In addition, the St. Lunatics participate in a St. Louis school-attendance program. "I’m not going anywhere," he told USA Today a year after Missouri’s governor gave him the key to St. Louis for his birthday.
Nelly is also a savvy businessman who, like many rappers, has no problem with the concept of making money. He’s up front about his tax shelters and jewelry purchases and often drapes himself in clothing from his own line, Vokal. ‘Where I’m from, this Rolex could take care of the whole block for a year," he told the Chicago Sun-Times in 2000. "It’s crazy like that, but this is something you work for"
In late 2002 he starred in his first movie, Snipes, a low-budget action film about a rapper-hustler who makes it big. "Fortunately, enough people have been like, ‘You did a good job. You did OK, ’" Nelly said of his performance. "I was like, ‘Whew. Thanks.’ Basically all I was trying to do was not stink up the joint." Later in the same 2002 interview, when USA Today’s Kelly Carter jokingly brought up Will "Fresh Prince" Smith, another actor who crossed over into movies, Nelly became excited. "Hopefully, yeah. If I can get $20 million a movie or better, I wouldn’t knock it," he said. "I definitely look up to people like Will Smith, who was able to come from a hip-hop background and achieve bigger and better."
Selected discography Country Grammar, Universal, 2000. Nellyville, Universal, 2002.
Sources Periodicals Chicago Sun-Times, December 7, 2000. New York Times, June 23, 2002. Rolling Stone, September 14, 2000; October 6, 2000; December, 14, 2000. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 30, 2000; December 10, 2000; June 27, 2002. USA Today, September 29, 2000; September 3, 2002. Village Voice, August 22, 2000.
A savvy pop-rapper with crossover appeal, Nelly seemed like a novelty when he first debuted in 2000 with "Country Grammar (Hot...)," yet he was no one-hit wonder, consistently returning to the pop charts with smash hits like "Hot in Herre," "Grillz," and "Dilemma." His universality was partly rooted in his hometown -- the Gateway City, officially known as St. Louis, MO -- which set him apart from all of the prevailing rap styles of his time. He wasn't from the East or West Coast, nor was he from the South. Nelly's locale certainly informed his rapping style, which was both country and urban at the same time, as well as his dialect, which combined a Southern drawl with Midwestern twang. Plus, Nelly never shied away from a pop-rap approach, embracing a singalong vocal style that made his hooks catchier than most, thanks also in part to his standby producer, Jason "Jay E" Epperson. As a result, Nelly became a rapper capable of crossing practically all boundaries, from the Dirty South to MTV's Total Request Live and everything in between. His first hit, "Country Grammar (Hot...)," became a nationwide summer anthem in 2000, and many more smash hits followed during the remainder of the decade.
Born Cornell Haynes, Jr., on November 2, 1974, Nelly moved with his mother from downtown St. Louis to slightly more suburban University City as a teen. There, he chiefly attended to baseball and rap, forming the St. Lunatics with a group of his peers (including Big Lee, Kyjuan, Murphy Lee, and City Spud). The St. Lunatics enjoyed a regional hit in 1996 with the self-produced single "Gimmie What You Got," but no recording deal was forthcoming. Frustrated with failed attempts to land a recording deal as a group, the St. Lunatics collectively decided that Nelly would have a better chance as a solo act. The rest of the group could follow with solo albums of their own. The gamble paid off, and soon Nelly caught the attention of Universal, who signed him to a solo deal.
His debut album, Country Grammar (2000), featured contributions from the St. Lunatics as well as the Teamsters, Lil Wayne, and Cedric the Entertainer, and thanks to the widespread popularity of lead single "Country Grammar (Hot Shit)," Country Grammar debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 album chart, climbing to the top spot soon afterward. In addition to the Top Ten title track, Country Grammar spawned the hit singles "E.I.," "Ride wit Me," and "Batter Up." In the wake of Nelly's remarkable breakthrough success, he recorded a group album with the St. Lunatics, Free City (2001); released by Universal, the album charted Top Three and spawned a moderate hit, "Midwest Swing," which cracked the Billboard Hot 100 at number 88.
The following summer Nelly returned with his second album, Nellyville (2002), and lived up to his self-proclaimed billing as "#1" (i.e., the title of his 2001 hit from the Training Day soundtrack): Nellyville topped the Billboard album chart while the Neptunes-produced lead single, "Hot in Herre," remained atop the singles chart. In all, Nelly impressively held the number one spot on ten different Billboard charts the week of Nellyville's release, and he remained a chart presence as he released a string of follow-up singles: "Dilemma" (a chart-topper), "Air Force Ones" (a Top Three hit), "Work It" (featuring Justin Timberlake), and "Pimp Juice" (the source of some controversy).
Even after Nellyville ran its course commercially, Nelly's hit streak continued unabated, with "Iz U" (from his stopgap remix album Derrty Versions [2003]) and "Shake Ya Tailfeather" (from the Bad Boys II [2003] soundtrack) keeping him in the spotlight while he readied his separately released double-disc Sweatsuit (2004) project (following the lead of OutKast and R. Kelly, who had both recently released very successful two-disc sets). Sweat and Suit were led by a pair of red-hot singles -- "Flap Your Wings" (a club jam) and "My Place" (a slow jam) -- and debuted at the top two spots on the Billboard 200 album chart. Follow-up singles included "Tilt Ya Head Back" (featuring Christina Aguilera), "Over and Over" (Tim McGraw), "Na-Na-Na-Na" (Jazze Pha), and "N Dey Say." Sweat and Suit were later bundled as Sweatsuit (2005), along with the new song "Grillz," itself a number one hit. The time between its release and that of Brass Knuckles (2008) was the longest Nelly went between albums to date, though he did collaborate frequently (with Ashanti, R. Kelly, and T.I., to name only a few) during the downtime. The star-studded 5.0 (2010) featured the singles "Just a Dream" (produced by Jim Jonsin) and "Move That Body" (produced by Dr. Luke and Max Martin, featuring Akon and T-Pain). ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi
With the same-day dual release Sweat and Suit (2004) and the compilation Sweatsuit (2006), Nelly continued to generate many chart-topping hits. Sweat debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 342,000 copies in its first week. On the same week of release, Suit debuted at number one selling around 396,000 copies in its first week on the same chart. Nelly's fifth studio album, Brass Knuckles, was released on September 16, 2008 after several delays. It produced the singles "Party People" featuring Fergie, "Stepped on My J'z" featuring Jermaine Dupri and Ciara and "Body on Me" featuring Akon and Ashanti. In 2010, Nelly released the album 5.0. The lead single, "Just a Dream", has appeared in the top ten of several singles charts and were certified platinum in the United States. The second single is "Move That Body" featuring T-Pain and Akon. "Gone" is the sequel to Nelly's 2002 worldwide number one single "Dilemma", also with Rowland, and serves as third single from Nelly's album.
He won Grammy Awards in 2003 and 2004 and had a supporting role in the 2005 remake film The Longest Yard with Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. He has two clothing lines, Vokal and Apple Bottoms. He has been referred to by Peter Shapiro as "one of the biggest stars of the new millennium",[3] and the RIAA ranks Nelly as one of the best-selling male artists in American music history,[4] with 21 million albums sold in the United States. On December 11, 2009, Billboard ranked Nelly the number three Top Artist of the Decade.[5]
Nelly was born in Austin, Texas, where his father was serving in the military. When he was seven, his parents divorced.[6] Nelly moved with his mother from inner city St. Louis to suburban University City, Missouri as a teenager. While still in high school, Nelly formed the St. Lunatics, who enjoyed local popularity with their single "Gimme What Ya Got". When a major record deal failed to appear, Nelly decided to go solo.[7] He was signed to Universal Music Group by A&R Kevin Law.[8] Law told HitQuarters that very few people at the record company liked Nelly when he was first signed, with the feedback he received from his colleagues on the rapper's music being "extraordinarily negative".[8] Nelly was unusual for being a rapper from the Midwest at a time when the hip-hop scenes were centred around the East Coast, West Coast and the South. The label used this to their advantage by branding Nelly as a star of the Midwest, hoping to inspire pride in the people of St Louis and the surrounding region.[8] Nelly was signed together with St. Lunatics.[8] Kevin Law and Country from Fo'Reel Entertainment decided to do a solo record with Nelly first and then return to St. Lunatics the following year.[9]
The label released his major label debut Country Grammar in 2000. The success of its title track as a single (#7 on the Hot 100 and #1 Hot Rap Tracks) led to the album debuting at number three in the Billboard 200 in the U.S. Other singles from the album included "E.I.", "Ride wit Me" featuring his brother City Spud and "Batter Up" featuring the St. Lunatics.[7] The album was certified 9× platinum by the RIAA on April 27, 2004.[10]
On September 14, 2004, Nelly released two albums, Sweat and Suit. Suit, an R&B-oriented album, debuted at number one on the Billboard albums chart, and Sweat, a rap-oriented album, debuted at number two. From Suit, the slow ballad "Over and Over", an unlikely duet with country music star Tim McGraw, became a crossover hit.[16] On the 2004 NBC television concert special Tim McGraw: Here and Now, McGraw and Nelly performed the song.[17] A feud with another St. Louis-based rapper, Chingy, came up near the end of the year.[18]Tsunami Aid: A Concert for Hope, a 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake benefit concert special produced by NBC, featured Nelly.[19] In the winter of 2005 came Sweatsuit, a compilation of tracks from Sweat and Suit with three new tracks. "Grillz", produced by Jermaine Dupri, was a number-one hit. To date both albums have sold over 5 million units in the United States.
In the summer of 2009, Nelly made a public announcement in Las Vegas about the yet-to-be-titled album.[23] In October 2009, Nelly did an interview with SOHH.com and said that the album was going to be released sometime in 2010.[23] In a interview with Semtex TV, Nelly told reporters that he planned to release the album under the name Nelly.[24] In April 2010, Nelly's cousin Michael Johnson was murdered in Missouri, Nelly said that he delayed releasing the album because of this.[25] Guests featured on the album were, T-Pain, Chris Brown, Akon, Plies, T.I., Kelly Rowland, Birdman, DJ Khaled, Avery Storm and Diddy-Dirty Money.[26] In May 2010, Nelly confirmed that the title of the album was 5.0.[27] The album was released on November 16, 2010.[28] The album's lead single "Just a Dream" was released on August 17, 2010, through iTunes[29] along with the promotional single "Tippin' In da Club".[30] The two songs were released to Mainstream and Rhythm/Crossover radio on August 10, 2010.[31] "Just a Dream" made its first chart appearance debuting on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number twelve and peaking at number 3 in its fourth week. The song also debuted at number 3 on the BillboardDigital Songs chart, selling 888,000 downloads in its first week.[32][33] "Just a Dream" is Nelly's highest-charting song since his 2005 single "Grillz" and debuted at number 7 on the BillboardRap Songs. The song entered the Canadian Hot 100 in August 2010, at number thirty-two[34] It debuted in Australia (ARIA Charts) on the Singles Chart at number 3,[35] in New Zealand Singles Charts at number twenty-nine, and in Switzerland (Media Control AG) at number fifty-two. The second single "Move That Body", which features T-Pain and Akon, was released on October 12, 2010.[36] The song made its first chart appearance debuting on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number fifty-four and has reached a current peak at number twenty-nine in Australia.[37][38] Nelly is featured on the second single by singer Mohombi titled "Miss Me", produced by RedOne. On November 13, 2010 Nelly appeared on the Pacquiao vs. Margarito pay-per-view, at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.[39] "Gone" is the sequel to Nelly's 2002 worldwide number one single "Dilemma", also with Rowland, and serves as third single from Nelly's album. On December 24, 2011, Nelly released a mixtape titled O.E.M.O. (which stands for On Everything MO), which features guest performances from T.I., 2 Chainz, Bei Maejor, St. Louis, St. Lunatics, SAG Live and Trixie.[40]
Artistry
Musical style and influences
Nelly’s rapping style has been described by Peter Shapiro as using "unforgettable hooks based on schoolyard songs, double-dutch chants, and nonsense rhymes"[3] and has a "Missouri twang".[41]Allmusic suggests Nelly's style is based largely on where he comes from - "Nelly's locale certainly informs his rapping style, which is as much country as urban, and his dialect as well, which is as much Southern drawl as Midwestern twang".[7] Nelly explains his method of writing in the book How to Rap, describing how he freestyles most of the lyrics before going back over them to "make it a little tighter",[42] he generally writes in the studio rather than at home,[43] he normally comes up with a chorus for a song before writing the verses,[44] and he likes to write to the music he will be rapping over.[45]Allmusic also notes his "tongue-twisting" hooks, which are also often sung rather than rapped.[46] Nelly began listening to artists like Rakim, LL Cool J, Run–D.M.C., Outkast, Goodie Mob and Jay-Z. He became convinced that his gift for rap could be parlayed into a career. He has his own style of rap which he likes to describe as a jazz form of hip hop.
Nike and Nelly agreed on a one-year deal in 2003 to release a limited-edition sneaker called the "Air Derrty" which was a retro remake of Charles Barkley's signature sneaker.[47] Nelly later signed a shoe deal with Reebok.[48] Nelly has done ads for Got Milk and the Ford Motor Company. His energy drink Pimp Juice sold one million cans during the first two months after its introduction in August 2003, and was criticized for its name by black consumer activists.[49] Nelly owns Apple Bottoms, a female clothing line, and Vokal, which caters to men. He was one of the owners of the Charlotte Bobcats, along with Robert L. Johnson and Michael Jordan until Jordan became the new owner in March 2010.[50]
Nelly has played the Main Event at the 2007 World Series of Poker.[51] He has also played The PokerStars European Poker Tour and PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.[52] In August, 2010, Nelly started a temporary stint as the afternoon host on WHHL HOT 104.1 in St. Louis. He is taking the place of regular PM drive personality, Stacy Static, who is on pregnancy leave.
According STLtoday, the initial ratings for the show are very high. This gig garnered national attention in the Huffington Post and other websites. On September 28, 2010, Nelly is releasing a fitness DVD entitled Celebrity Sweat, walking viewers through various exercises and weight training techniques.[53]
Philanthropy
Nelly runs the non-profit organization "4Sho4Kids Foundation." The "Jes Us 4 Jackie" campaign began in March 2003 by Nelly and his sister Jackie Donahue after Donahue was diagnosed with leukemia. The campaign attempts to educate African-Americans and other minorities about the need for bone marrow transplants, and to register more donors. Donahue lost her battle with leukemia on March 24, 2005, almost two years after the campaign began.[54]
In 2010, Nelly endorsed Do Something's Tackle Hunger campaign. In a public service announcement he filmed for the cause, Nelly challenged teens to fight hunger by collecting 1 million pounds of food for the holiday sesason. [55]
Film and television career
Nelly's film debut came in 2001 in the independent film Snipes playing a famous rapper named Prolifik.[56] His big movie role came in the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard starring Adam Sandler and Chris Rock.[57] The movie's soundtrack includes Nelly's songs "Errtime" and "Fly Away". In June 2008, in a interview with Kiwibox, Nelly revealed that he is reluctant to continue his acting career, noting that he does not want to "take away from the culture of acting."[58] In 2008 and 2009, Nelly appeared in episodes of the CBS crime drama CSI: NY.[59] In 2011, he played himself in 90210.
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