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Nelly

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For other uses, see Nelly (disambiguation).
Nelly

Cornell Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), best known by his stage name Nelly, is a rapper from St. Louis, Missouri, who experienced popularity in the early 2000s. He is one of the best-selling rappers of all-time, with over forty million albums sold worldwide. He has also achieved three number ones in the United Kingdom (four including his vocal contribution to "Nasty Girl" by Notorious B.I.G.), four U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, and three Grammy Awards. To date, he's the most successful rapper in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 as he has charted nine top ten singles, four of which were number one, a feat yet to be equaled by any rapper.

Personal background

Born in Texas and raised in suburban St. Louis, Missouri, Nelly's accent exhibits a great deal of influence from this Midwestern upbringing, as his midwest swang mixed with a southern drawl is a result of growing up in the hybrid southern-midwest city of St. Louis. Nelly also spent part of his first years in Spain while his father was in the U.S. Military. Raised in University City, Nelly formed the St. Lunatics with his friends in the surrounding area. After much frustration and failed attempts, it was suggested that Nelly would have a better shot at success as a solo act, to gain recognition first as a soloist and then bring in the rest of his group, the St. Lunatics in the time to come. He was soon signed by Universal Music Group. His unique Midwest/Southern style still shines through and he continues to proudly acknowledge his St. Louis roots. In 2001, Nelly's sister Jacqueline "Jackie" Donahue was diagnosed with leukemia. In 2003, Nelly and Jackie started the Jus Us 4 Jackie campaign, a search for a bone marrow donor. Although the search was unsuccessful for Jackie, (she died March 24 2005 of complications from leukemia when she was thirty-one) the foundation was able to find matches for others, including two children from Jackie's hometown of St. Louis. Nelly has continued charity work related to this illness in her memory.

The rapper Nelly has two children, a daughter Chanell Haynes (born 27 February 1994), a son Cornell Haynes III, (born 2 March 1999).

Taylor Joal parodied Nelly's Hot in Herre; Nelly liked it so much he donated clothes to Al and his band to wear on stage while performing the song.

In early 2003, Nelly released the controversial single, "Air Force Ones". MTV, MTV2, MuchMusic, and VH1 refused to air the video due to product placement for Nike's popular sneakers of the same name. BET, however, played it. (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 the Nike Air Max2 CB '94 which was released on June 13 2003 at select NIKE town stores and was limited to 1,000 pairs. He later made a deal with Reebok, stating, “I’ve always been into sneakers and throughout my career I’ve always wanted to have a signature pair of sneakers that truly reflect my personal style. It made the most sense for me to partner with Reebok because they fully understand and respect the culture of sports, music and entertainment.” [citation needed]

At the 2003 Grammys, he received two awards; one for Best Male Rap Solo Performance, and another shared with Kelly Rowland for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. He also won the 2003 American Music Award for "Fan's Choice" and received four other nominations.

In the following year, 2004, he won his third Grammy for Murphy Lee's number-one hit single "Shake Ya Tailfeather" from the Murphy's Law CD. "Shake Ya Tailfeather" featured Nelly and P. Diddy. On September 14 2004, Nelly released two albums simultaneously, 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 in the same week. From the Suit album, the slow ballad "Over and Over", an unlikely duet with country music star Tim McGraw, became another crossover hit. Nelly performed the song with McGraw on the latter's CBS Television concert special in 2004. "Heart of a Champion" is a song by the rapper Nelly, released in 2004, from the album Sweat. In the song Nelly raps about how he is at the top of his game and has the drive and will to succeed in life. This song is frequently played at sporting events. Despite not being a single from the album, it is most certainly one of the most popular songs Nelly has ever recorded, especially amongst athletes. In 2005, he released Sweatsuit, a U.S-only compilation album consisting of tracks from Sweat and Suit, as well as three new tracks including "Grillz", which he scored another number-one hit with.

In 2005 Nelly recorded a song with Eurovision Song Contest star Alsou. The song, called "Wish I Didn't Know", was never officially released, but was leaked and now can be found online. Also in 2005, Nelly was featured on the Notorious B.I.G.'s song Nasty Girl, and Mariah Carey’s album track, "To The Floor". "Nasty Girl" was on the Notorious B.I.G's posthumously released album Duets: The Final Chapter, and was also put on Sweatsuit. Then in 2006, he was featured on "Call on Me", Janet Jackson's first single from her 20 Y.O. album. In 2007 Nelly was also featured on R. Kelly's CD Double Up on a song called "Tryin' to Get a Number". Also in 2007, Nelly also contributed to Ashanti's track Switch, and T.I.’s song "Show It To Me", on his "T.I. Vs. T.I.P." album.

Acting career

He was featured in the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard starring Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. This hit was a smaller blockbuster and racked up a good promising future for this hip hop star. The film debuted at number three at the American box office behind Star Wars Episode III and Madagascar (the latter of which also stars Chris Rock) and became MTV Films' most successful release grossing over a hundred million U.S. dollars in the U.S. alone. Nelly's first film was called Snipes with Zoë Saldaña. Because of a lack of adequate funds, the film was never widely released in cinemas, but has since made a VHS and DVD release, and can be ordered through major retailers. The film has also been featured on BET. It was filmed very early in the St. Lunatic member's career. It is rumoured that Nelly will be starring in Death Clock in 2008, which is to be directed by Stephen Spielberg, and Produced by Adam Morrison.


Discography

Main article: Nelly discography

Albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Grammy awards

Career Stats

  • Career wins: 3
  • Career nominations: 11
Year Category Genre Title
2003


Best Rap/Song Collaboration Rap "Dilemma"
2003 Best Male Rap Solo Performance Rap "Hot in Herre"
2004 Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group Rap "Shake Ya Tailfeather"

References

  1. ^ Nelly at IMDb
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