Nelly had an itinerant childhood, moving to Spain at one point before ending up in the ghettos of St. Louis, Missouri. A talented baseball player, Haynes opted instead to form the St. Lunatics rap crew with high school friends Kyjuan (b. Robert Cleveland), City Spud (b. Lavell Webb), Big Lee (b. Ali Jones), Murphy Lee (b. Tohri Harper), and Slow Down (b. Corey Edwards). The St. Lunatics enjoyed a local underground hit in 1996 with "Gimme What Ya Got", but despite this success they failed to persuade any major labels to offer them a recording contract. In 1999, Nelly opted to pursue a solo career and was signed to Universal Records. The regional popularity of his singles translated into national success when Country Grammar, his debut collection, took over from Eminem at the top of the US album chart and stayed there for several weeks. Suddenly, all the talk was of new Midwestern talent to rival the southern stars of labels such as Cash Crew Records and No Limit Records. While Jason Epperson's electro-funk backing tracks owed an obvious debt to Timbaland's syncopated beats, Nelly's rhyming style offered an interesting new angle with a smooth flow tailor made for the crossover urban R&B market. The lyrics deviated little from the modern rap blueprint, encompassing crime ("Greed, Hate, Envy"), sex ("Thicky Thick Girl") and macho posturing ("Batter Up"), but the big radio-friendly hooks on tracks such as "Country Grammar (Hot Shit)", "Ride Wit Me", and "St. Louie" offered the real clue to Nelly's unexpected popularity.

The St. Lunatics crew released their debut album the following June, enjoying a commercial success on the back of Nelly's popularity. The rapper returned to the US charts in his own right in June 2002 with the chart-topping hit single "Hot In Herre". The attendant Nellyville debuted at number 1 in the album charts the following month, while the album track "Dilemma" (a duet with Destiny's Child singer Kelly Rowland) nestled in behind "Hot In Herre" at the top of the singles chart. "Air Force Ones" also reached the Top 5 at the end of the year.

Courtesy of Universal