So, it’s about 1:40 in the afternoon and St. Louis’ biggest music superstar rolls up to his Sky Box Sports Bar and Grill on Laclede’s Landing in a black, blinged-out Escalade.
He daps me, another brother and a waiting Big B, his able and faithful, quick-to-buck bodyguard, then struts into his multi-million-dollar sports bar. He’s wearing half-sagging blue jeans and tennis shoes and busting out of a white V-neck tee.
As usual, he daps all of the media who have been waiting on him since 1 p.m., graciously tells everyone to eat and drink up because it’s on him, then heads to the interview room in one of the VIP quarters. My colleague, Kenya Vaughn (web editor for our heavily-hit www.stlamerican.com) and I had decided to do a tag-team interview on the multi-platinum Derrty Ent./Universal/Motown money man and girl magnet.
When we’re up for our rap with Mr. Cornell “Nelly” Haynes, he hits the questions hard – like he was wearing a pair of brass knuckles and had just downed a gallon of Pimp Juice. But that’s how the superstar rapper says he’s hitting with his first full CD of original songs in four years.
Hence the album title Brass Knuckles, out in June. It’s beefed up with guest appearances from Jermaine Dupri, Akon, Fergie, T.I., Snoop Dogg, the late Pimp C, Ciara and – get this – Baby Face (though that track may not make the final cut).
More on the music in June. Right now we’re on what he got out of his head.
Bill: I still want to write that book, How the Midwest was Won.
Nelly: I got to add some more chapters to that. I ain’t really got the finale.
Kenya: Says who?
Nelly: Naw, but it’s different when it’s you. It’s like how do you want your book to end? I don’t know. I haven’t really been through the uuhn. Not the start – the start is already uhnn. So you get this, but how do you add to that? I don’t want to repeat it, let me do something – learn some more, take some more bumps and bruises.
Now, getting to the business – that’s something different – we been through too much. But getting in the business, let me see and know how it’s going to flow.
Regardless how anything ends, I feel like Nelly’s blessed and I feel real fortunate, and if I don’t make it from this point on to the rest of my life then I’m the idiot. Because definitely I’ve had enough at my fingertips and enough to be and enough to work with and be successful forever. Hopefully I’ve done some right things; I know I’ve done a lot of the wrong things.
Kenya: Well, you managed to stay pretty much golden, free of controversy…
Nelly: I don’t see that – even with the “Tip Drill” thing. It’s like, what the hell? But I don’t see it as a controversy as much as people taking a problem within the community and life itself and try to pin it on one person. You do so much through your charity, for your city, career-wise, and you do one video and all of a sudden that’s your legacy or that’s what they want to put on you. I didn’t break any laws, I didn’t hurt anybody. It was an adult video with grown people who agreed to do everything that was going on in there for a video that was made for an adult program that came on at 3 in the morning. Every precaution was taken. Why is it that my daughter hasn’t seen the “Tip Drill” video?
Kenya: But for the most part you managed to stay above the cut as far as what rappers are doing, and you are known for your charitable contributions and business savvy as much as your music.
Nelly: I will say more so in the press of St. Louis. But outside of St. Louis I don’t get that. Y’all don’t know. I’m not just Nelly to y’all. I went to U. City High School. Y’all know me, you know my parents, y’all know my family, my cousins, you might have went to school with my cousins or brother. So it’s different for y’all, y’all keeping tabs.
But on the outside they only get what people are going to tell them media-wise. So if the only thing they heard about Nelly in Michigan is that Nelly under fire – they didn’t hear last week we had a bone marrow drive or we had fed the children, Nelly was at the Logos School or went to the foster mothers’ dinner made presentations. They don’t get that – you guys do.
Bill: What about St. Louis controversy?
Nelly: It’s somewhat of an ungrateful attitude I feel sometimes. And I’m just gon’ say it – I’m not going to sugar coat it. It’s like people forget. “What has he done for St. Louis.” Look, people, there is no St. Louis, there was no St. Louis outside of St. Louis until that happened. We did the hardest thing there is to do when it comes to getting in a room: We opened the door! That’s it! We shouldn’t have to do nothing else.
We done already played Jackie Robinson. You want us to continue to make the all-star team every year. Brother, we broke in. You make the all-star team every year on your own. We showed them St. Louis can play in the big league. But they still want to hold you to this and that. Man, listen, I still live in the city, I got a building right downtown in the heart of the city. I don’t live in Atlanta, I don’t live in Miami, L.A. I could’ve bounced and said, “Yo, I’m on now, I don’t care about that city back home.”
Bill. What do you like about the St. Louis?
Nelly. I love the people that love the city, help the city, that get it. Now, obviously, you don’t like the haters and the people who only want to eat off of you. They say they mad because Nelly won’t let the other artists eat. That’s not true – you really mad because Nelly won’t let you eat off him.
He’s not stopping you from hustling, but he won’t co-sign for you. It’s like you asking someone to go and co-sign for you a car and you mad because you’re credit messed up and they ain’t never messed their credit up, so you mad.
That’s the instance with the Huey thing. I don’t know you, lil brother. You just walk up to me in a club saying you got signed, “let’s do a song.” Lil brother, it’s my first time seeing you. I know how this game works. I know what Universal gon’ say: “Nelly, why are you going to break a new artist – why not break your own artists?” If I did a song with every artist in St. Louis – what would be the point of signing with me?
But the whole contradictory thing is that he’ll say I’m whacked and I’m old after I don’t do it, but if I’m whacked then why do you want to do a record with me? You don’t really like my music – you don’t want to do a record with me – you want to use me. So after I peep that, you mad that I won’t let you use me.
