Nelly

OJ here, we're chilling at the Young Hollywood Studio with the one and only Nelly. What's up, man? How are you, man? Good?

I'm good, man. Good to see you.

It's good to see you. It's crazy. It's been a decade since Country Grammar. I mean, how crazy is it when you hear that, that you now been in the game for a decade and you're on top still?

It's beautiful, man. You know, it's it's it's definitely a blessing to be, first of all, to even be in the music business, you know, that's like a dream come true, you know, since a kid. But to be and to continuously to be successful after 10 years, you know, who who knew? I was thinking about I was thinking about us. What we gonna be? Open my eyes. It was only just a dream. Just a dream has just been blowing up.

Incredible. When when you were a kid, what what was your dream? What what was your big dream?

I dreamed of being everything from a garbage man, because I just wanted to ride on the back of the truck. Right. You know what I'm saying? You know, you see them going down the alley like, yo, that's cool. I wish I could ride on the back. And he gets paid. Like, whoa. You know what I'm saying? Um, anything from, uh, firemen, to all that. Uh, I actually thought playing baseball would be my lick, you know, I I love sports. I thought that was gonna be my way of taking care of my family and being able to help them live a more pleasant life, so to speak. But music is

That's interesting. So early on it wasn't I want to be a music star when I grow up. That was something

Well, I always did music. Always did music, but you gotta understand, coming from St. Louis, it it didn't look as feasible. You see what I'm saying? Because who who made it musically out of St. Louis like that? I was thinking about I was thinking about us. What we gonna be?

And what's your dream now? Now you've come so far.

What what my dream now is just to continue, man. You know, um, coming from where I come from, I came a long way. And if you would have asked me 10 years from now, where would I want to be? I would say, right here. You know, right here. Celebrating, putting out a new record, um, having a number one single, you know what I'm saying? And and continuously doing things, but now you get here and I just don't know, man. I I don't want to put the roof over the house, right? I just want to keep building.

Well, let's talk about the Nelly sound though, because when I first heard that song on the radio, I knew it was you before the lyrics even came on. Just something about the beat, like, oh, that sounds like that's a Nelly joint that's coming on right now. You know, Hot In Her, same thing. You hear that, you're in a club, like, you know right away.

Thanks, man.

What you got coming? How did you sort of create that? Not many people can do that.

My fans allow me to be musically free. And I say that with confidence because they allow me to do Ride Wit Me, to do Over and Over with Timbaland.

Yeah, you mix it up with that. You do that stuff, man.

You know what I'm saying? Dilemmas. Right. And now, Just a Dream. They allow me to do those type of things, but they allow me to do Hot In Her and Grills. Right. And Country Grammas and E. I.'s. You know, so I have a very, very, very gracious fan base.

You were one of the first guys in the game to really, you know, create the empire. A lot of guys are doing that now, but, you know, Apple Bottom Jeans, Vokal, Air Dirty. Right. Like, you were the first guy that expanded into all these other areas.

Well, I had great people in front of me. I'm looking at what Puff come along and does, what Jay is doing, you know. I I got great people in front of me to lead the way. So it's not like I don't want you to think like it's these ideas that I came up with. It's about me learning. I have no problem with looking and learning, man, and and trying to incorporate that with with what works for me. So I have great people in front of me, man, and they're great friends. You know, to be able to call Puff, to be able to call Russell and say, yo, you know, what do you think about this? Bounce ideas. That's a beautiful privilege that a lot of people don't have.

They were saying earlier you're going to Bahamas soon. And like it sounds amazing. Oh, Nelly's gonna chill in Bahamas, but that's not the case. But it's a one-day trip. I'm in and out. You know what I'm saying? It's like that's torture. You know what I'm saying? It's like you see the palm trees, but can't touch them. It really is hard work. It's crazy. So a couple last things I want to touch upon. I'ma let you get out of here. Cool. The evolution of the music business. The game has changed a lot over the last couple of years. But from when you started till now, it's a total black and white scenario. You know. So what's affected you the most and what what adjustments are you making to sort of

Well, you know, I'm kinda learning on the fly. Back in the day, you know, you put your single out, it goes to number one, you drop your album. It's all good. Right. You know, now, you know, you can get to number one and it's still like, okay, you still got a lot more work to do. And it's it's just different, you know, it's more single driven. You do have your moments, I mean, because you know it is different for you, but at the end of the day, you gotta keep going. You know, so, you know, we're working. We out here. We got it.

All right, last thing, and think about this one, cuz we're gonna we're gonna hold it to this. So if you had to describe Nelly, in one word,

Mhm.

What would that word be that just describes?

Versatility.

Makes a lot of sense. You didn't even have to think about it. Most people think about it, you're just like right on it.

No, no. That's my motto. That's what I think long, that's that's the key to longevity in any business. You see what I'm saying? Cuz evolution is you know, it's up to you to be versatile and adjust.

All right, man. Thanks for coming through, man. I really appreciate it.

Thank you. Thank you.