Nelly says his Era of rap was the toughest : “When I put out songs, I Had To go Against DMX, JAY-Z, Eminem, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Luda."

[Artificial Intelligence]

All those artist named sounded different.. today they all sound similar

 

[jensyao]

Yeah Nelly got protested by women groups for misogynistic lyrics and his concert got cancelled at a college. Women who bought his albums realized Nelly was portraying them with the butt swipe, where he had to sit down at a table and listen to them to make amends. He took out the misogyny from his lyrics, which was why flap your wings didn't hit and was just a bunch of redundancy and at the same time ran out of schoolyard chants to make dirty so it took him forever to make the next hit and rebranded with some country singer...grillz hit, party people was alright, and then he ran out creative songs that hit the radio waves like he once did, probably because he needed the misogyny as a crutch to make his versions of durty hit songs again if it wasn't for the schoolyard chants also running out

 

[Yehuda]

Nelly had a run obviously but does anyone ever bring him up regarding a conversation about nikkas having bars?

You ain't from Russia so bytch why you're rushing ain't too many emcees this clever with it.

 

[WaveCapsByOscorp™]

As far as competition, which is his point, yes he did have to deal with a lot of skilled artists working at the same time he was.

 

[Deltron]

You ain't from Russia so bytch why you're rushing ain't too many emcees this clever with it.

relax...homie was just kiddin like jason

 

[AAKing23]

The 3 years that Nelly made noise were actually Hip Hop's weakest years in the history of the genre.

Labels were signing basically anyone they felt could turn a cheesy hook into gold. This was also when the 360 deal started popping up, and dudes were vanishing after one big record.

Nelly was a pop act. Not Hip Hop. So he was never in talks about being dope as an MC. His whole model that Universal set up for him, was about making Top 40 pop hits. So he can't speak like he's ever been in the same league as any of the MC's from that era. He was never viewed the same. Which is why by '03, he was a wrap. Dude was only on for three years. Fell off quick fast.

Facts you stated what I was trying to say earlier, dude was a pop artist

 

[NYC Rebel]

As far as competition, which is his point, yes he did have to deal with a lot of skilled artists working at the same time he was.

Being skilled or unskilled did not make or break MCs as much during that time. Just because some skilled MCs appeared didn't mean he faced pressure to be a skilled artist. It was no longer a requirement.

 

[Playaz Eyez]

Nelly was a heavyweight from 2000-2004. He’s 100% correct.

 

[SNG]

That era was definitely the peak of hip hop in terms of actual album sales. Not going to lie selling 500,00 would be considered a flop in that era.

 

[FTBS]

Was Nelly really competing with them though? He was in the pop lane from jump and moving units accordingly. nikka was on TRL tours. Now he may have had a harder time getting on due to his style and where he was from but he wasnt actually competing with any of those dudes. Its like somebody on a great sketch show talking about all the dramas they had to compete with.


All that said, the man's run was legendary.

 

[WaveCapsByOscorp™]

Being skilled or unskilled did not make or break MCs as much during that time. Just because some skilled MCs appeared didn't mean he faced pressure to be a skilled artist. It was no longer a requirement.

i'm not saying he had to be skilled as much as i'm saying he had to compete against skilled ones that had a lot of presence in the culture at the time. that alone means that times were more challenging

 

[Ozymandeas]

you're short changing him, Sweat/Suit still did numbers (not CG/Nellyville numbers, but still successful). so he had about a 4 year run

I’d give Nelly from 2000 to 2007. He was running on fumes by 2007 but I’ll still give it him as he had a few singles.

 

[NYC Rebel]

i'm not saying he had to be skilled as much as i'm saying he had to compete against skilled ones that had a lot of presence in the culture at the time. that alone means that times were more challenging

There presence was no longer the gold standard to be a participant. So Im not sure how they were a challenge when skills was no longer a hurdle.

 

[NinoBrown]

It was the Bling Bling/flex/club anthem era of Hip Hop....an awful time but leagues better than mumble/crack baby rap today...

 

[Woodrow]

As far as competition, which is his point, yes he did have to deal with a lot of skilled artists working at the same time he was.

i took it as him competing with artists who were talented AND shaking shyt on the charts. in that sense, he has a point.

and at his peak the only dude really fukking with nelly on those charts was marshall.