Nelly

Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr. , known professionally as, Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, investor, and occasional actor from St. Louis, Missouri. Nelly embarked on his music career with Midwest hip hop group St. Lunatics, in 1993 and signed to Universal Records in 1999. Under Universal, Nelly began his solo career in the year 2000, with his debut album Country Grammar, of which the titletrack was a top ten hit. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and went on to peak at number one. Country Grammar is Nellys bestselling album to date, selling over 8.4 million copies in the United States. His following album Nellyville, produced the numberone hits Hot in Herre and Dilemma . Other singles included Work It , Air Force Ones , Pimp Juice and 1.

Nelly was born in Austin, Texas, where his father was serving in the military. When he was seven, his parents divorced. Nelly moved with his mother from St. Louis to University City, Missouri as a teenager. While still in high school, Nelly formed the St. Lunatics, a hip hop group who enjoyed local popularity with their single Gimme What Ya Got. Nelly decided to go solo, after a major record deal failed to appear. He was signed to Universal Music Group by AampR Kevin Law. Law told HitQuarters that very few people at the record company liked Nelly when he was first signed, with the feedback he received from his colleagues on the rappers music being extraordinarily negative. Nelly was unusual for being a rapper from the Midwest at a time when the hiphop scenes were centered around the East Coast, West Coast and the South. The label used this to their advantage by branding Nelly as a star of the Midwest, hoping to inspire pride in the people of St Louis and the surrounding region. Nelly w

Source: Wikipedia