Nelly's Way

Multi-platinum rap star Nelly is in a limo winding its way from a posh Beverly Hills hotel up into the hills above Los Angles. The rapper is mellow, admittedly tired and doesn't seem particularly excited, even though he's on his way to the Playboy Mansion to spend the afternoon as a celebrity photographer. The fact that he's so nonchalant about the whole thing is a little odd; gorgeous models-turning-actresses must take their clothes off for Nelly all the time.
The reality is that Nelly is a busy man, and whether it's performing a surprise show in a high school cafeteria in his hometown of St. Louis or taking pictures of naked Playboy bunnies in The Grotto, it's all a part of the job and it's what it takes to keep the Nelly machine rolling. And it is a machine.
Emerging in the late 1990s from St. Louis' fledgling rap scene, Nelly and his crew, the St. Lunatics - Kyjuan, City Spud, Murphy Lee, Ali and Jason - scored a regional underground hit in '96 with the song "Gimme What Ya Want," but never produced any major label attention. It wasn't until Nelly signed to Universal as a solo artist that his hungry crew started to gain national recognition. With the release of Nelly's major label debut, Country Grammar, this Midwestern rapper blew up, taking the top spot on the Billboard charts and holding on to it for weeks. After riding the runaway success of three singles from Country Grammar, Nelly released Nellyville in June 2002, and its first single, "Hot In Herre," became an instant club classic.
These days, it never stops for Nelly, so as he rolls through Los Angeles on his way to the photographic engagement and leisurely answers questions over a cell phone, it's the subject of his music that perks him up, not the idea that another batch of young ladies is about to get naked for him. "I've always been down with hip-hop, man. That shit's a way of life."

You're blowing up like crazy, but you're not a gangsta' or a typical "Dirty South" rapper. What is it about what you do that appeals to people so much? Is it just that party vibe?
I just try to stay open with it, you know, the versatility of it all. I just try to do me, and fortunately, people have been appreciating and taking to it, so it's been cool. But you know, everybody's knows I like to kick it, I like to have fun. I think that, nowadays, people are turning to music for the positive side, people just wanna chill out. With all the stuff that's been going on in the world, I think people are starting to realize that, yo, maybe we do need to chill out a little more. Life is short and all that - and let's be responsible too, 'cause it ain't all about games - but when it's time to party, let's party.

You were really the first rapper to come up big out of St. Louis into the national mainstream. Was there always a scene there when you were starting out, or did you set it off?
Well, once people see one person do it, everybody starts believing that they can do it too, which is a good thing. There's always been talent down there, but people haven't gotten a chance to show what they can do. I think now, people are getting the opportunity to come out and do their thing and show folks that they can get down too.

It seems like the thing to do in the hip-hop game these days is to branch out into clothing, movies and other areas. Do you have any new side-projects?
I got a movie called Snipes, due out at the end of this year. Also, I got the Vocal clothing line that's in stores right now. We just moving around. You know man, hip-hop is big and people wanna hear it, and I think people are interested in hip-hop lines because they know we're the rawest of music right now. It's actually real stories behind hip-hop artists, because you take these kids off the streets and all of a sudden you make them superstars and then they have to deal with it, as opposed to dealing with someone who's been training all their life, who's been taught how to walk, talk and act, and their whole life had been geared to nothing but being a pop star or something like that. With hip-hop, I think people wanna see what else is going on, so we are able to get out there and do other things and people do take interest in it, whether it's clothing or movies or whatever else you wanna do - it's all been able to go pretty smooth, you know?

Do you have to consciously draw the line between being an artist and a businessman?
Oh, of course. I think the early pioneers of hip-hop taught us about that. Back in the day, you just assumed that they would always be well-off because you always seen 'em on videos and whatnot, but a lot of time, the business part of it wasn't right for them. But you know how it is with record companies - you love making the music, you don't like the record business 'cause that's somethin' else, but you love makin' music and showin' the people what's up. When it comes to the record business, it's hard and you gotta know what's going on. But I don't really trip off it. I just go about my business and do what I want to do. That's the big thing, because in the end, you only gotta be with yourself, you know what I'm sayin'? You only gotta deal with it yourself. Everybody's gonna make suggestions and try to get you to do your thing their way, but if you don't feel comfortable and if that ain't the way you wanna do it, you know… just do it your way, man.

What's with the Band-Aid under your left eye, man?
It's for my little brother. He's locked up in jail right now, so I wear that for him.

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