Nelly Biography

Nelly was born Cornell Haynes Jr. in St. Louis, where he encountered the street temptations so synonymous with rap artists. And like so many of his contemporaries, a change in circumstance at a pivotal time in his life may have changed the course of Nelly's life. In his case, when he was a teenager, Nelly was taken away from those streets when his mother moved to nearby suburban University City. It was there that he shifted his attention to playing baseball, storytelling, and writing rhymes. With some high-school friends, Nelly formed the St. Lunatics, who scored a regional hit in 1996 with a self-produced single, "Gimmie What You Got." Frustrated with failed attempts to land a record deal as a group, they collectively decided that Nelly would have a better chance as a single 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 released his debut album, Country Grammar, in 2000. What distinguished Nelly's take on rap from others was his laid-back delivery, deliberately reflecting the distinctive language and Southern tone of the Midwest. The album featured contributions from the St. Lunatics as well as the Teamsters, Lil' Wayne, and Cedric the Entertainer, and spent seven weeks on top of the U.S. album charts. All along, Nelly's goal was to put his hometown of St. Louis and the St. Lunatics on the hip-hop map. Though Nelly had become a star as a solo artist as planned, he said that he is and always will be a member of the St. Lunatics, a collective that also includes Big Lee, Kyjuan, Murphy Lee, and City Spud. Nelly fulfilled his promise in 2001 with the release of Free City, the debut St. Lunatics album featuring the hit single "Midwest Swing."

The following summer Nelly returned with his second album, Nellyville, and lived up to his self-proclaimed "#1" billing. The album 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. Few rap artists could boast such numbers, and Nelly surely savored his number one status, particularly after being dismissed as a novelty two summers earlier when he debuted. You could call him a pop-rapper if you liked, but you surely couldn't challenge his number one status. After all, his hit streak continued unabated, with "Iz U" (from his stopgap Derrty Versions remix album) and "Shake Ya Tailfeather" (from the Bad Boys II soundtrack) keeping him in the spotlight while he readied his double-disc Sweatsuit project (following the lead of OutKast and R. Kelly, who had both recently released very successful two-disc sets). The seperately released double album dropped in fall 2004, preceded perfectly by a pair of red-hot singles: "My Place" (a slow jam) and "Flap Your Wings" (a club jam). A stroke of commercial (and to an extent, creative) genius, the superstar-laced project catapulted Nelly back atop the pop-rap world. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

Nelly's Early Years

Nelly spent his early years in Spain and moved to St. Louis, Missouri for elementary school. Nelly's parents divorced when he was eight years old. Nelly admitted he used to get into a lot of fights but by the time he started high school he was into baseball instead. Nelly's passion for baseball helped keep him out of trouble. In 1993 Nelly left his gritty St. Louis neighborhood and settled in the suburban area of University City. Nelly continued to work on his baseball skills and formed a rap group called the St. Lunatics with school pals Kyjuan Ali, Murphy Lee and his little brother City Spud. Two years later Nelly and crew released a 12-inch single called Gimme What Ya Got, which sold almost 10,000 copies. Nelly continued with the Lunatics while playing shortstop in the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association. At the time, it looked as though Nelly would be a professional baseball player.

Nelly's Big Break

The St. Lunatics managed to put out another song called Who's The Boss, which became a local hit. The song helped their reputation locally but didn't grab the interest of record companies. The frustrated St. Lunatics decided to try their luck in Atlanta and teamed up with Kula who was managing Mase at that time. Eventually they realized Nelly would have a better chance of scoring a record deal on his own. So with Kula, 19 year-old Nelly attracted Universal Records exec Kevin Law in 1999. Nelly's career was off like a rocket with the release of his song Country Grammar, which borrows the hook from the children's song Down, Down, Baby. On June 6, 2000, Nelly released his first full-length album - also called Country Grammar. The album managed to sneak past Eminem and Britney to the number one spot on the Billboard charts on August 26, 2000.

Nelly Keeps The Hits Coming

With the release of the song Ride Wit Me Nelly the rapper has secured his spot as a popular rap artist who's known as much for his signature low-riding pants as he is for his music. Nelly's second album Nellyville was a huge hit and his third album, Da Derrty Versions: The Reinvention, which is out in November of 2003, is bound to be as huge. Tell your 'rents not to worry - there's a clean version of Da Derrty Versions available too.

Nelly - Did U Know

Nelly's real name is Cornell Hayes Jr. Nelly has his own clothing line called Vokal. Nelly had a million dollars worth of stuff stolen from his room at the Aladdin Hotel, Las Vegas in 2003.

Nelly Says...

"I'm a product of hip-hop. That's all I listen to what I grew up on, besides what my parents had going on in the house. It's definitely hip-hop first and everything else is just distant."

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