Nellyville by Nelly
Summertime, a time for new music, parties, relaxation, dancing, new trends and fun. This month's album for review came out during the Summer, on June 25th, 2002. When it came out I was 6 years old (man time goes by so fast... I mean to think it is summer of 2020 right now), but fast forward 3 years and I was introduced to it by one of the most amazing guys ever, my soulmate best friend. We would play the whole album multiple times throughout the day but we mainly sang and danced to three songs, "Hot in Herre", "Air Force Ones" and "Dilemma". Give it up for this month's Album, Nellyville by Nelly.
Personally, when it comes to music, the genres that I vibe with vary tremendously as do the artists of each given genre. In the Rap genre, the artists (not in order of favourites) that I have vibed with since I have heard them were Tupac, Biggie, Eminem and Nelly.
Nellyville's cover art includes a light brown background with his black bandana and his bandaged cheek. His eyes seem to look intense, almost like he is staring into your soul but also the eyes showcase his confidence as they seem to be staring directly into the camera. It starts with the titular song Nellyville which showcases Nelly's dream of an equal society that he has the opportunity to be the mayor and struggling is less even in areas that are known to be the projects.
Nobody livin average, everybody jang-a-lang
Nobody livin savage, e'rybody got change
It's not a game, it's a beautiful thang
Imagine blocks and blocks of no cocaine, blocks with no gunplay
Ain't nobody shot, so ain't no news that day
Ain't nobody snitchin, they refuse to say
Every month - we take a vote on what the weather should be
And if we vote it rains - know how wet we want it to be
And if we vote it snow - know how deep we want it to get
But the sun gon' shine 99 percent, in Nellyville
- Nelly, "Nellyville"
The Album overall is slow and calm but with a dance vibe. It uses music and sound effects that draw out reactions within many peoples' emotional psyche. Nelly collaborates with some very strong and powerful artists who although they seem more strong they do not overpower the calm vibe that Nelly seems to portray in his voice and tones that his songs follow or have. One collaboration that I find very strong was "Dilemma" with Kelly Roland, her voice added to the song and story, she pulled off the love struck attitude that the song is trying to showcase.
The songs on the album can be so contradictory but they also work all together to give you different aspects of Nelly's personality. In his song "#1", Nelly seems to be confident and curious. Confident in the way he tells people to watch what they say about him as if they know him and the boldly stating that he is number one no matter if you like it. On the other side of that Nelly is curious about how to be number one so he asks. I think this is trying to show that although he is confident in his skills he also wants to know what makes a person number one which shows he also cares about peoples' opinions on that topic.
To they attention dirty
That's all
You better watch
Who you talking about
Running your mouth
Like you know me...
I-am-number one
No matter if you like it
Here take this sit down
And write it
I-am-number one
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
Now let me ask you man
What does it take to
Be number one?
- Nelly, "#1"
Nellyville is timeless to me and invokes the same feelings of wanting to dance as when I first heard it at the age of 9. Back then I would have rated it at 8.5/ 10 but now listening to it 15 years later I rate it a 9.5/ 10. The mark of a great album or artist is the ability to be timeless and invoke emotions. With that in mind, I end this review.