Nelly
For the first half of the 2000s, Nelly was pop-rap's biggest crossover star — the Band-Aid-cheeked St. Louis rapper behind "Hot in Herre" and "Dilemma," a run of singalong hits that owned radio, MTV, and the charts.
Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. — Nelly — came up in St. Louis, Missouri, as part of the hip-hop group the St. Lunatics (with Ali, Murphy Lee, Kyjuan, City Spud, and Slo Down) before launching a solo career. His 2000 debut album Country Grammar debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 on its way to #1 and became a phenomenon, its melodic, sing-song hooks putting St. Louis on hip-hop's map. His trademark was as much visual as musical: the Band-Aid he wore on his cheek became an instantly recognizable part of his look.
His commercial peak came in 2002. "Hot in Herre," the sweltering "it's getting hot in here" dance-floor smash, hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won the Grammy for Best Male Rap Solo Performance in 2003; its follow-up, the Kelly Rowland duet "Dilemma," also went to #1, a soft-focus ballad that dominated that summer. Nelly's knack for melody and pop hooks — once knocked as "not real rap" — made him one of the most-played artists on the planet.
The hits kept coming across the decade, and in December 2009 Billboard ranked Nelly the #3 top artist of the entire 2000s. He was the sound of a certain kind of 2000s pop-rap: warm, catchy, made for radio and cookouts — the crossover king of the decade's first half.
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