The two sides of Nelly: rap star opens up about making music history and the high price of fame

Jet, Sept 13, 2004 by Margena A. Christian

Nelly is leading the way. The three-time Grammy winner will go into territory that no other Black musician has ever gone before.

On September 14, the man who put St. Louis on the map with rap music will release two separate CDs on the same day, Sweat and Suit.

"Guns N Roses and Bruce Springsteen did it, but I'm the first hip-hop performer and the first African-American to do that," Nelly tells JET during an exclusive preview of the CDs in his hometown. "I didn't know that at the time. I just wanted to do it because it was a way for me to get a lot of music out and get a chance to do both sides."

Sweat, the title of the gritty disc, will feature more uptempo club bangers. Flap Your Wings is the first single from that project. Suit, the more laid-back of the two discs, is sexier, more personal music. My Place is the first single release from that project. It features singer Jaheim, crooning to Teddy Pendergrass' seductive 1979 cut Come Go With Me.

Both CDs are loaded with a who's who in appearances. His rap group, St. Lunatics, is featured on Sweat. Rap star Mase came out of retirement to be a part of the Suit project.

Nelly, the father of two, a daughter, Chanel, 10, and ason, Cornell III, 5, often shies away from talking about his children. On the song Die For You on Suit, he lets fans into his private world as a father for the first time.

The song Over & Over, also on Suit, is a standout tune. Nelly joins forces with Tim McGraw. Yes, the country music great.

"I used to see him and his wife, Faith Hill, at every award show," Nelly recalls. "They are like the Jay-Z and Beyonce of country music. They are huge. They told me how much they love my music. Tim would always tell me we should do something together. We did and I put a song in context so that everyone can feel it in country and hip hop without it being corny."

Country Grammar, Ride Wit Me, E.I., Batter Up, Hot In Herre, Dilemma, Pimp Juice, Air Force Ones, #1, Work It and Shake Ya Tailfeather, featuring Murphy Lee of St. Lunatics and P. Diddy, won Nelly Black and White, old and young fans, a myriad of music honors and a hefty bank account.

But Nelly says that fame doesn't come easy or cheap.

"When you start getting money, you start seeing all these other problems and you're like, 'What the hell!'" he says, jumping back in his seat. "You wouldn't imagine. For one thing staying successful and rich is an issue. That's 365 days and 24/7. You have people that greed, hate and envy sets in. You work hard to get to where you are and so many who haven't worked for it don't understand. You find people who want to count your money and tell you what to do with your money that you worked for. And I'm thinking, 'Didn't I write these rhymes?"

He says that he reminds himself that "you can't please everybody and why should you try? I'm slowly finding out that if you don't try to be happy, you'll be miserable and before you know it it'll all be over. Then everyone will say, 'I told you so.'"

One of his most expensive lessons to date came last year when the "good guy of rap" decided to do something for the adults. A remix CD, Da Derrty Versions, featured E.I. (The Tipdrill Remix). The song was accompanied by a video that was shown on BET's "Uncut" in the wee hours of the morning during uncensored programming.

The ladies at Spelman College protested his portrayal of women in the video. So when Nelly launched Jes Us 4 Jackie, a nationwide bone marrow donor drive recruitment campaign to help his sister, Jackie Donahue, who has leukemia and is in need of a bone marrow transplant and a donor, the ladies decided to protest if his 4Sho4Kids Foundation held the donor chive at Spelman. His foundation cancelled the event.

"Black people already get nervous when it comes to donating organs and health issues," explains Nelly. "The last thing you want to do is have people walk across a picket line because of something they're already unsure about."

He continues. "Don't get me wrong: I'm all for what they are trying to say, but the video had nothing to do with me trying to save my sister's life. You can't make a comparison They are talking about something where three or four years from now they might not remember doing and will be out of school, but in three or four years from now I might not have my sister with me.

"Nelly is not a chauvinist. I have the utmost respect for women. I have two kids. I made that video for the adult crowd. That was on Da Derrty Versions album."

A donor drive in Nelly's hometown drew more than 1,200 people. It made history as the most successful Black bone marrow registry drive, according to the National Bone Marrow Registry. The event produced 1.025 new donors.

Sadly Jackie, at JET press time. still has not found a donor match and her health is taking a turn for the worse.

"My sister is in the hospital right now." he says as his eyes slightly water. "This has been a setback for the family. She had to undergo another chemo and this is hurting me."