Although he has taken heat for both his mainstream success and the way some women are portrayed in his music videos, Nelly has the support of two of Hip-Hop’s biggest legends for his new album Brass Knuckles. While addressing their former beef, KRS-One had nothing but praise for the St. Louis rapper’s crossover potential.
“Nelly is a record seller,” said KRS, when speaking exclusively to HipHopDX. “Regardless of what I or anyone else thinks, Nelly is a seller of music. He’s the reason Hip-Hop is $10.5 billion annually, not me. If you look at [things], from a business point of view, just business, why would you go with KRS who can barely sell 30,000 records today, barely 30,000 records. I mean nothing to the mainstream in that sense.”
In addition to the recognition from KRS, Nelly also worked with Public Enemy front man Chuck D on a new song entitled “Self Esteem.” According to Nelly’s interview with MTV, it wasn’t difficult to make the collaboration happen.
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“I wanted to do a song and I wanted to put Chuck on it,”Nelly said. “I didn’t even have a chance to play it for him. He said, ‘Let’s do it.’ Just that easy.”
At press time, Nelly’s last offerings Sweat and Suit, which were both released on Sept. 14, 2004, are certified as platinum and triple-platinum respectively. Brass Knuckles is scheduled for a November 13 release.
