Under Universal, Nelly began his solo career in the year 2000, with his commercial debut album Country Grammar, of which the featured title track and the single "Ride wit Me" were top 10 hits.
46 Facts About Nelly
2.
The album peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, and became Nelly's best-selling album to date, selling over 8.4 million copies in the United States.
3.
Nelly has won multiple accolades throughout his career including three Grammy Awards and nine Billboard Music Awards.
4.
Nelly has been referred to by Peter Shapiro as "one of the biggest stars of the new millennium", and as of 2014, Nelly was ranked as the fourth-best-selling rap artist in American music history, according to the RIAA, with 21 million albums sold in the United States.
5.
Nelly's father served in the Air Force for much of his childhood and, when he was seven, his parents divorced.
6.
The rest of the group agreed to let Nelly go solo after a major record deal failed to appear.
7.
Law told HitQuarters that Nelly was largely disliked by the label when he first signed, with the feedback he received from his colleagues on the rapper's music being "extraordinarily negative".
8.
Nelly was unusual for being a rapper from the Midwest at a time when hip-hop was dominated by the East Coast, West Coast and the South.
9.
In 2003, Nelly released Da Derrty Versions: The Reinvention, which featured the hit single "Iz U" from the soundtrack to Walt Disney's The Haunted Mansion.
10.
The controversy forced Nelly to cancel an appearance at a bone marrow drive at Spelman College, a historically black college in Atlanta.
11.
On September 14,2004, Nelly released two albums, Sweat and Suit.
12.
Meanwhile, reports persisted that Nelly was increasingly irritated with Chingy's growth in fame particularly when he signed with Ludacris' DTP label shortly following the tour.
13.
Nelly had a wish for this to happen, she really wanted me and her brother to be cool.
14.
Nelly later confirmed that "Wadsyaname" was never going to be on Brass Knuckles.
15.
Nelly recorded "Party People", featuring Fergie and produced by Polow da Don, which turned out to be his first official single off the album.
16.
Nelly appeared on Rick Ross's third single, "Here I Am", which featured label mate Avery Storm.
17.
In May 2010, Nelly confirmed that the title of the album was 5.0.
18.
Nelly is featured on the second single by singer Mohombi entitled "Miss Me", produced by RedOne.
19.
On November 13,2010, Nelly appeared on the Pacquiao vs Margarito pay-per-view, at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
20.
In June 2011, Pitbull released a song off the deluxe version of the album Planet Pit featuring Nelly titled "My Kinda Girl".
21.
In December 2011, Nelly released his first ever official solo mixtape, entitled OE.
22.
Nelly released his second mixtape, entitled Scorpio Season, on November 2,2012.
23.
Nelly joined country singers Kane Brown and Brett Kissel for remixes of their songs, "Cool Again" and "She Drives Me Crazy".
24.
Nelly starred in the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard with Adam Sandler and Chris Rock.
25.
From 2013 to 2016, Nelly was in the main cast of the mockumentary series Real Husbands of Hollywood.
26.
On September 2,2020, Nelly was announced as one of the celebrities competing on the 29th season of Dancing with the Stars.
27.
Nelly's rapping style has been described by Peter Shapiro as using "unforgettable hooks based on schoolyard songs, double-dutch chants, and nonsense rhymes" and has a "Missouri twang".
28.
AllMusic suggests Nelly's style is based largely on where he comes from: "Nelly's locale certainly informs his rapping style, which is as much country as urban, and his dialect as well, which is as much Southern drawl as Midwestern twang".
29.
Nelly explains his method of writing in the book How to Rap, describing how he freestyles most of the lyrics before going back over them to "make it a little tighter", he generally writes in the studio rather than at home, he normally comes up with a chorus for a song before writing the verses, and he likes to write to the music he will be rapping over.
30.
Nike and Nelly agreed on a one-year deal in 2003 to release a limited-edition sneaker called the "Air Derrty", which was a retro remake of Charles Barkley's signature sneaker.
31.
Nelly's energy drink Pimp Juice sold one million cans during the first two months after its introduction in August 2003, and was criticized for its name by black consumer activists.
32.
Nelly owns Apple Bottoms, a female clothing line, and Vokal, which caters to men.
33.
Nelly was one of the owners of the Charlotte Bobcats, along with Robert L Johnson and Michael Jordan until Jordan became the new owner in March 2010.
34.
Nelly has played the Main Event at the 2007 World Series of Poker.
35.
Nelly has played The PokerStars European Poker Tour and PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.
36.
Nelly is taking the place of regular PM drive personality, Stacy Static, who is on pregnancy leave.
37.
In September 2010, Nelly released a fitness DVD entitled Celebrity Sweat, walking viewers through various exercises and weight training techniques.
38.
In 2011, he and Vatterott College worked together to found the Ex'treme Institute By Nelly, which is a music production school in the heart of St Louis.
39.
In 2015, Nelly teamed up with Mike and Ike candy after a halt in collaborating a year earlier.
40.
Nelly has sent two students to college every year for over a decade, and set up a scholarship fund named after Michael Brown was shot and killed.
41.
Nelly was initially booked into the Putnam County Jail and was released on bail.
42.
Nelly was initially charged with felony drug possession, simple possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
43.
In December 2015, the case was resolved when Nelly pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of marijuana and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia and was sentenced to one year of probation.
44.
Nelly entered a diversion program, in which the misdemeanor convictions were cleared from his record after 11 months.
45.
Nelly was booked into a Des Moines, Washington, jail, and released from custody without charge.
46.
Nelly denied wrongdoing; his attorney said that the accusation was "clearly false".