Nelly: I'm The Only Rapper From My Era To Gain Success Without A Co-Signer

[O.Red]

but they had tremendous success and they came out in a different era.

rap was mainstream when nelly came out and he had the internet to help him. plus his was mostly bubblegum pop rap, not the dedicated street shyt Bun and Pimp Chad (RIP) were providing.

The internet was NOT breaking nikkas in 2000

WHAT the fukk is going on in here?

 

[O.Red]

Nikkas acting like you're being forced to say Nelly's your favorite rapper in this bytchBringing up whatever

 

[Lucky_Lefty]

Who co signed Lil Jon?

Jermaine Dupri

 

[Big Boss]

Who the fukk were they at the time?

Nelly, as an unknown label tax write off, dropped a single that led to a diamond album in the span of about 8 months.

That's ALL this is about

Facts and he was from st louis


They don't have a long history of hip hop

 

[George's Dilemma]

Love the history lesson in this thread. I dont remember half the details in here, but I didn't follow the south all like that either.

 

[O.Red]

Lil Jon owe his career to Too $hort.

When short came back from retirement in Atlanta, he was letting (then) young, hungry,
unknown niccas make beats (Jon, Jazze Pha, SBX, Kool Ace) - but it was cool because
Too Short fans are loyal.

First Jon beat I remember was the remix of “Couldn’t Be A Better Player”.
The OG version with the Ant Banks beat was some smooth playa chit - classic Short,
but the Jon version went hard because it was crunk.

Before Jon & them blew up, Jon was producing like half the beats on Short albums.

On the Eastside Boyz’ first album, I think Short had like 3 features on there.

I never thought about the Too Short Jon connection but that's a good ass point

 

[Sankofa Alwayz]

He single-handedly put the whole STL on the map all by himself at the time where most ppl weren’t really checking for the rap scenes in the Midwest like that outside of Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland (BTNH). Even made it known on record:



I ain’t even from the Lou but this shyt be getting me hyped lol

 

[Will Ross]

Nelly had the whole being from the midwest/ being country gimmick to help him.

 

[Gold]

Who co-signed juvenile?

thats a good argument.

 

[TaxCollector13459]

Damn, now I think about it, even if Future hadn't got that Drake nod (DF cosigned him) shyt, Rocko was the one who gave him the nod as well
at least he was on A1 ENT as early as Streets Calling if my memory correct.

Who cosigned Rocko though?

 

[TaxCollector13459]

Ludacris was not doing monster numbers like Nelly. Stop being disingenuous

True but this statement only tells half the story respectfully

 

[Xyrax]

Hes kinda right. The only comparison is Luda who wasn't as big as Nelly at their respective peaks. The fact that only ONE comparison can be made, and that even that comparison is arguable... and that Luda comes from a Rap Rich state like ATL with an entire well known culture for the music, while Nelly planted the fukking flag for STL rap at the time is pretty fukking incredible.

The dude did his thing.

 

[TaxCollector13459]

Hes kinda right. The only comparison is Luda who wasn't as big as Nelly at their respective peaks. The fact that only ONE comparison can be made, and that even that comparison is arguable... and that Luda comes from a Rap Rich state like ATL with an entire well known culture for the music, while Nelly planted the fukking flag for STL rap at the time is pretty fukking incredible.

The dude did his thing.

facts. It was a double edged sword for Nelly,. Him being the lone front man for STL helped because he virtually had no real competition from his region for the early part of his career, so once he made it all visibility was on him, Versus Luda basically had to battle his way through a premier musical talent stomping ground. thats why I said bro last post about Luda/Nelly didnt tell the whole story. He was basically having to share the stomping grounds. IMO. It was basically Luda/tip/jeezy at the top


great thread.


edit: Nelly's biggest strength though a lotta people undestimate is the power of the female fanbase he had in his prime. I mean, its knowledge that women will more likely spend money on an artist that they fukk with. So in a sense, I believe that equaled the playing field being from an unknown area (music wise), aka not having a co-sign.

 

[hjnm]

Didn't Nelly have Cardan from the jump?

 

[O.Red]

Damn, now I think about it, even if Future hadn't got that Drake nod (DF cosigned him) shyt, Rocko was the one who gave him the nod as well
at least he was on A1 ENT as early as Streets Calling if my memory correct.

Who cosigned Rocko though?

Ok nikkas gotta stop talking like Drake put Future on wtf???

Future had multiple hits from 2012-15

DS2 was on fire before What A Time To Be Alive was a thing

Again this is why Drake aligns himself with nikkas because he knows nikkas are gonna retroactively say Drake put them on despite them already having a career/hits/buzz prior