Rapper Nelly Pretty Much Just Schooled Mainstream Country in How to Approach Genre
I never had much respect for the rapper Nelly, but then again, I didn’t really know much about him beyond that horrific “It’s getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes” song that strives to make hookers out of the young, sweet, impressionable young ladies of our innocent nation . . . and his stupid remix of Florida Georgia Line’s mega hit “Cruise” that caused the song to become the longest-charting #1 single in country music history, forever staining the storied American institution.
I saw the other day that Taylor Swift was out there dressed in white and dancing in a subservient go-go line behind Nelly at one of her concerts, while Nelly sang his stupid “take off all your clothes” song. So much for Swift being America’s final female role model, but I digress.
In late April, it was announced that Nelly would be making a country EP, and the collective groans of the assembled masses of true country fans was audible throughout the fruited plain. But apparently that info, which came from some Nelly peon and not the rapper himself, was bunk. Or at least that’s what Nelly’s saying now in a recent round of interviews.
In as many days, Nelly has been asked about his potential country EP twice, and twice he has offered some statements that however inadvertent they might be, waylay this completely misguided and disastrous idea that country music artists should be out there making rap, EDM, or R&B albums instead of making music in their native genre.
When asked about his rumored country EP by Rolling Stone, Nelly said,
“I love country music. I respect country music so much that I would never think that I can sit down and just as easy do a country album. That’s not it. That’s just like some country artist saying, ‘Hell, I’m just gonna do a rap album.'”
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Thank God to the Lord Almighty, stand up out of my chair, give a one-man standing ovation, YES! YES! YES!
FINALLY someone gets why this notion that every entertainer should be able to make every type of music, and that this approach is somehow “creative” or “evolution” has just been smacked down by the most simple, and most obvious observation from a guy that otherwise is probably a music miscreant.
Country artists make shitty rappers, R&B guys, and EDM artists. It’s just not their thing. It’s not what they grew up doing. It’s not in their blood. And by attempting to interject themselves into these disciplines, it’s not only disrespectful to country music, it’s disrespectful to the others genres they’re attempting to infiltrate.
You don’t see mainstream rappers at the top of their game, or mainstream R&B guys or EDM guys saying, “Hmm, I think I’ll make a country record.” Maybe you see that when some hack musician’s career has gone south and they’re looking for support (ahem, Darius), but generally speaking, it’s only country’s top artists that covet other genres, and act oppressed if someone gazes a hairy eyeball at Jason Aldean for cutting a rap song, or Thomas Rhett releasing an R&B album under a country guise.
Nelly respects country music more than most mainstream country artists do. Let me repeat that: Nelly respects country music more than most mainstream country artists do.
Nelly also spoke to Entertainment Weekly about his prospects of doing a country EP, and said:
“We talked about doing an EP that went across all boundaries and being a different vibe. I love country music. I respect it to the utmost. But there’s nothing in the world that makes me think I can do a country album. That’s like Tim McGraw waking up like, ‘Yo, I’m gonna do a rap album.’ Like, ‘Tim, you’re taking the “Over and Over” thing a little too far.’ What I think I can do is do something in the vein that can go across and fulfill different formats of music, country being one of them. I may do an EP that features more than one country artist, so it may have a different vibe, but not a country album.”
“Truck Yeah” Nelly, you tell ’em!
Look, there’s nothing wrong with mixing genres or crossing borders in the collaborative process. The problem is when you erase the borders to the point where a genre can’t define itself, and simply becomes an amalgam of other influences, easily infected by outside trends like a sickly person with a poor immune system. Because eventually, the genre can die (see: rock).
So I say good on Nelly. If he wants to dabble in country influences, then I give him my Papal blessing (however meaningless and obscure it might be). Because he just proved what countless country stars have yet to prove to the very thing that has bestowed them untold fame and riches: respect.
Jim
October 2, 2015 @ 11:08 am
Good for him. I think it’s a very rare artist who can drop themselves into any genre and make it work. Even Willie Nelson’s reggae album was passable at best. And I find Bob Dylan’s constant tinkering – making a Christmas album, trying to be Dean Martin, making jazz, etc – to be mostly intolerable.
Most singers are one or two trick ponies. And there’s nothing wrong with that at all. But I think it’s a hit to their egos to realize that – “what do you mean I can’t do anything I want?”
Trigger
October 2, 2015 @ 11:12 am
And it’s not just about competency, it’s about respect. What Nelly is saying is that he just wouldn’t do that to country music. He wouldn’t make a country record just because he wants to without taking into consideration the ramifications it could have. Meanwhile when it comes to many country artists, they don’t seem to care. It’s all about getting paid.
Jim
October 2, 2015 @ 11:17 am
Yes. I knew I hit “Post Comment” too soon. For most it’s about getting paid and inflating their egos, respect for the genre be damned. Your bolded sentence in the article said it best: “Nelly respects country music more than most mainstream country artists do.”
Nadia Lockheart
October 2, 2015 @ 11:18 am
And here’s the thing: artists CAN draw inspiration from all other styles of music and utilize them in their sound in a way that’s still most respectful to each said style.
Beck would spring to mind as an obvious example of experimentation done right, but Paul Simon does as well. “Graceland” is a classic record (as is “The Rhythm of the Saints”), and it’s NOT because Simon said: “Hell, I’ll do an African music album!”…………………..it’s because he stayed true to his gifts for thoughtful songwriting and melodic composition and did his homework when he came across a cassette that was confirmed to be from a South African vocal group and, inveigled by the music, decided to travel to Johannesburg to study the musical heritage more and trust his instinct on tapping into this tradition for inspiration. In the end, it still sounded very much like a Paul Simon album through and through, but with a broadened worldview.
So we are all indeed influenced by a lot of music all around us. But acknowledging that is one thing, and merely jumping on commercially convenient bandwagons without any personal connection to another musical style is a whole other thing.
Mule
October 2, 2015 @ 8:25 pm
I saw nothing wrong with Dylan’s Christmas album. I don’t think he “tinkers”. He has always performed music he loves and it’s always been grounded in roots music. That’s the main difference here. Bob’s not cashing in or chasing trends. The man risked “ruining” his career by going gospel for Pete’s sake! I admire any artist that takes chances because they honestly do it from the heart, money and trends be damned. And over 50 years later I think he’s proved himself.
Nadia Lockheart
October 2, 2015 @ 11:09 am
When Nelly appears to be a (relative) voice of reason in this current music climate, you KNOW things look bleak! @.@
Andrew Covey
October 2, 2015 @ 11:39 am
I’d still rather hear Nelly sing a Country song than any mainstream artist.
JF
October 2, 2015 @ 11:47 am
Two guns all the way up (10/10) for this rant. Well put.
Kale
October 2, 2015 @ 12:09 pm
He was mainly talking about people like Steven Tyler and Bret Michaels who come over and release something to country radio just because the can do it, and the hypothetical problem of a country singer releasing a song or album to rap. He didn’t say anything about the bigger problem of artists who are classified as country releasing a song or album called country that really has nothing to do with country and calling it evolution, such as his FGL buddies he did a remix with.
Trigger
October 2, 2015 @ 1:00 pm
He didn’t, but he did. And he kind of did directly when he brought up Tim McGraw. I agree there’s a degree of separation between what Nelly is saying, and what mainstream country artists SHOULD be doing. But it’s nonetheless refreshing and telling. It’s very similar to what Taylor Swift said when she left country, only more pointed, and direct.
the pistolero
October 2, 2015 @ 12:18 pm
Good for him. It’s just an incredibly sad commentary on the state of country music that other genres’ stars (and that includes Don Henley) have more respect for country music than country’s own stars do.
Kale
October 2, 2015 @ 12:37 pm
Country’s current top tier performers got where they are because they knew the right people and/or kissed a lot of asses. Hell, I know somebody who talks to Marty Stuart on regular basis, and Mr. Stuart even comes around quite often. But you don’t see my name emblazoned on neon signs in silver rhinestones. I only wish. That’s because even though I have a good enough connection to get hooked up with the right people, I know I’m not cut out to be a star. I love country music and I love singing and playing it, but I’m only slightly more talented than Cole Swindell, and I won’t even pretend otherwise. I’m happy just watching it all from the sidelines and offering commentary when necessary.
Brandon
October 2, 2015 @ 3:09 pm
It sounds like you have self-respect 🙂
karl
October 2, 2015 @ 11:56 pm
Speaking of Mr. Swindell, his album is free on googl play, and its still overpriced.
Gumslasher
October 2, 2015 @ 1:12 pm
Very weird post old boy. Anyhoo… I love country music too.
John Wayne Twitty
October 2, 2015 @ 3:59 pm
Willie and Snoop made music together, but both have the talent to back it up.
Matt
October 2, 2015 @ 4:49 pm
Don’t know if it was mentioned, (I didn’t read all the comments I’m also cooking dinner), Timberlake has mentioned a country album. If anyone could crossover like that, and do it well, it’d be that dude.
Trigger
October 2, 2015 @ 5:04 pm
He recently bought a huge piece of property south of Nashville. The question of the Justin Timberlake country album isn’t if, but when.
the pistolero
October 4, 2015 @ 8:06 am
If anyone could crossover like that, and do it well, it”™d be that dude.
Don Henley really raised the bar for that one.
It might be good, though. Like Don Henley, Justin Timberlake likely has more money than he knows what to do with. Like Henley, he seems to be an artist with some measure of integrity. And like Henley, he really doesn’t have anything more to prove to the music world.
We shall see, I suppose.
Canuck
October 2, 2015 @ 4:58 pm
Wow. Nelly gets it. It seems he has more respect for the genre than a good 80% of the current crop of pop country artists. I also suspect he knows he would be scrutinized closely and would lose a lot of his rap cred if it turned our to be a bad album, too. He gets it, and he’s also smart enough to know a misstep would sweep away the remnants of his career.
BEH
October 2, 2015 @ 5:57 pm
I submit Mya – Ghetto Superstar. The only people who think Jason Aldean’s Dirt Road Anthem is a rap song are country music listeners. There are plenty of songs that Rock artists or Urban artists or Pop artists cut that listeners of their genre think is country. But most of us on this site would laugh at them for calling it country. Is Every Rose Has It’s Thorn country? Depends on who you ask. Over and Over again (Nelly and Tim McGraw) is listed on Wikipedia as Country Rap!!!!! I’m assuming Urban listeners think it’s country while Country listeners call it rap. Sam Hunt’s Leave The Night On was playing on the radio at my work when this black guy came in and told me “I hate country music”. I asked him if he knew the song and he said he didn’t. To him it just sounded like country music! Most on this site don’t even consider it country or music! I don’t know where I’m going with this so I’ll just end it here.
Summer Jam
October 3, 2015 @ 1:14 am
Wow, FINALLY someone that realizes something that i’ve been trying to say for ages on here that no one else seems to agree with. Alot of music that people on here call “not country” is looked at by others who DO NOT like or listen to country music, as country music. Sam Hunt’s “Leave The Night On” and “House Party” are the only two songs he has on that album with a pop country sound. Lots of hate goes to Jason Aldean, but every pop music fan and rock music fan ive known all hated Aldean because they said it was country music. I know quite a few pop fans that like Sam Hunt and FGL though.
Chris
October 4, 2015 @ 9:20 am
“There are plenty of songs that Rock artists or Urban artists or Pop artists cut that listeners of their genre think is country.”
Some of those songs are country and moreso than bro-country and metro-bro. Sam Hunt isn’t remotely close to as country as any Eagles song. Aldean talks or raps in Dirt Road Anthem but it’s not a pure rap song and it’s far better than 1994 and Burnin’ It Down. There’s nothing worse than bad songs and country artists replacing country instruments with synthesizers and country lyrics with pop lyrics. Aldean said he doesn’t like being called bro-country, then don’t record bro-y songs written by bro-country acts or other bro-country writers. Don’t sell your original country rock sound out to pop and bro-country and become a semi-FGL wannabe. It’s a sad day in country music hell when some superstars’ influences are bro-country.
“Alot of music that people on here call “not country” is looked at by others who DO NOT like or listen to country music, as country music.”
That’s not a good thing for country music and only helps those replacing pop country with pure pop. At this point it seems that the gatekeepers might want to make country more and more pop until everything on country radio is pure pop and they might not care if the pendulum doesn’t swing back. Many people look at pop as country because they never knew what country is and believe anyone calling pure pop “country.” The marketers are thrilled their marketing is working on some people. If the beloved artists, “country” radio DJs and other trained professionals selling music say the Sam Hunts are country it must be true right? Many gullible people and girls in love with the guys are buying the pure pop is country sales pitch. Many fans are repeating the “you’re stuck in the past and country must evolve” mantra in defense of pure pop. Many are pop fans to begin with and love the pop guys because they sing pop, look “hot” and have a “sexy voice” and girls and cougars talk about that more than their music. Many people who don’t like or listen to country don’t consider Sam Hunt and other pure pop to be country because it isn’t and many call bro-country and metro-bro awful and make fun of it. They think country music is a joke now. Is that good for the genre?
“Sam Hunt”™s “Leave The Night On” and “House Party” are the only two songs he has on that album with a pop country sound.”
Huh? There isn’t a country or pop country song on his album. It’s full of synthesized pure pop and R&B. They tossed a barely there country instrument into the background of a few songs to try to make them pop country and it didn’t work because the pop synth is so heavy and the lyrics and “singing” are pop. Do people you know think Justin Bieber, Britney Spears and Lady Gaga are country? Is Taylor Swift’s 1989 album country? She said it’s not, she’s right and Hunt’s album is just as synthesized and pure pop. Some pop acts played only on pop radio have acoustic pop songs more country than Hunt. Ed Sheeran is more country. A country song starts with real, organic music played by real musicians, not computers and programmers. The only pop country songs that use synth use it lightly, not to replace the entire lineup of country instruments. Hunt’s lyrics are also pop and all of his songs are sung to and about girls, just like the teenybopper boy bands. There isn’t an adult song on his album. You don’t see country artists with pop songs about a “house party.” The House That Built Me is country. House Party is pop. Wake up kids. Hunt is better at pop and R&B than the Thomas Rhetts but he’s still pure pop and R&B.
“I know quite a few pop fans that like Sam Hunt and FGL though.”
Because Hunt and FGL are pop. Many pop fans also like actual pop country with actual country instruments and lyrics.
the pistolero
October 2, 2015 @ 6:17 pm
The only people who think Jason Aldean”™s Dirt Road Anthem is a rap song are country music listeners.
And the only thing that means is that Colt Ford and Jason Aldean can’t do either genre right.
Clark
October 2, 2015 @ 6:55 pm
I have to wonder if he and other rappers or hip hop artists are sitting around, lamenting what these hack country artists are doing to hip hop, having the exact same conversation.
Maybe I need to visit savinghiphopmusic.com
BEH
October 2, 2015 @ 7:45 pm
Lol. The domain is available. $2.99 on godaddy. The only question is why would one want to save it?
Clark
October 2, 2015 @ 8:09 pm
There’s some great music there worth saving – judging it based on what’s on the radio is just as bad for hip hop as it is country. Or rock. Or anything, I guess.
Gumslasher
October 2, 2015 @ 11:02 pm
The new KING of EDM hits the jackpot with track on Avicii’s new “masterpiece”.
Zac Brown, please, please, please, please with sugar and artificial sweetener on top, stop. Seriously, stop.
Kevin
October 3, 2015 @ 4:53 am
Nelly is more country than Sam hunt.
Albert
October 3, 2015 @ 8:37 am
Although I respect your thoughts in this article , Trigger , I can’t help feeling we are grasping at straws when we hold up an artist like Nelly as an ally in our efforts to keep the country in country music . The saddest part in the demise of the genre , as we once knew it , is that good marketing people can sell ice to penguins , if they want to . There is just no WILL to market authentic country music now that they’ve found easier prey in a young demographic conditioned to finding , buying and sharing music by the pop/rap genre snake oil salesmen who got to them first with technology and sex.
Trigger
October 3, 2015 @ 9:03 am
Yeah, I don’t know that I would characterize Nelly as an “ally” to keep country music country either, and am not necessarily saying that here. All I am saying is he said what every artist outside the genre should say if they’re asked if they’re making a country record. He still is apparently making some sort of EP, and it will probably include Florida Georgia Line, Tim McGraw, and whomever. But he won’t call it country, which is more than these “country” artists can say for their own albums.
CHEZ
October 4, 2015 @ 12:02 am
Brett Eldredge had an interesting interview lately check it out if you like
http://lasvegassun.com/vegasdeluxe/2015/oct/02/brett-eldredge-talks-being-no-1-taylor-swift-dariu/
Mike
October 5, 2015 @ 7:55 am
I love your site and agree with pretty much everything you write but I just have to say that “Hot in Herrrr” – or however you spell it – is one of the greatest club jams of all time. Cheers!
Cowboyal
October 5, 2015 @ 9:02 am
What Caused the Death of Rock?
Trigger, I am not a music historian or have the depth of musical knowledge that you have. Therefore I am intrigued by the your statement regarding the death of rock music above. Would it be possible for you to expand on this a little and provide more detail on why you think rock music has died out.
I personally believe the moment that rock music died was the arrival of Nirvana. Their rebellious format of grungy alternative rock drew the youthful masses away from mainstream rock music, an audience which the mainstream rock format never managed to attract back again.
I also believe that the technical ability required to play grunge music is lower than that required to play the mainstream rock that it replaced. This was an important factor as the youth of the time that took up guitar playing found it much easier to cover songs by grunge bands rather than those of classic rock bands which requires greater prowess on the guitar. Hence the massive growth in grunge bands and its popularity on top of lowering the skill levels required for mastering your instruments and still gaining international fame.
I am not sure where the blurring of genres comes in when considering the death of rock as you imply in your article.
Just my thoughts. If you would like to expand on the topic that would be great! (if not, no problem!!)
Jim McGuinness
October 5, 2015 @ 3:20 pm
I don’t know about the death of rock, but here’s a piece onetime Trouser Press editor wrote about the band that killed rock ‘n’ roll. The article is on the money.
http://www.salon.com/2000/04/10/rock_killer/
Mkke fon
January 15, 2023 @ 7:16 am
Whoever wrote this article obviously has a hair up his butt. Now he is a talented artist. He wants to make music that fits him more at his age. He doesn’t want to talk about what 18-year-olds do in the streets.