For Myself & Others: Dear Nelly
Dear Nelly,
I’ve got to come to peace with you. I realize we don’t know each other, but you’ve bothered me for a long time. Finally, I can admit that the aggravation I’m suffering really isn’t your fault.
When you dropped in 2000, I was still in my backpacking phase, where any artist that achieved massive public acceptance lost points from me on the strength. Such behavior is unfair, and I’ve come to realize that. The ability to figure out what people want and the wherewithal to produce it is a rare skill. At the risk of sounding cliché, if it were easy to do, everyone would be doing it.
Yes, you’ve taken the easy route to stardom -- party songs and ballads geared toward the ladies -- but you’re not entirely derivative. Your style has been original, and for that you should get some credit.
But I was aggravated because I could not understand why the world liked your music when I found it to be utterly mundane. I couldn’t figure out why some of my favorite emcees, many of whom are 10 times the lyricist you are, were broke while you were on your way to showing off your shark tanks on ‘MTV Cribs.’
But I’ve gotten over that. Please don’t confuse this with meaning I’m a fan, but understand that I now see and respect where your talent lies: in making good songs, at best, and undeniably catchy ones at the least.
Some of your joints are more than catchy, though. Before it got worn out, ‘Hot in Herre,’ the lead single from ‘Nellyville,’ was hot. Much of that credit goes to The Neptunes for giving you a sick beat, but you get the credit for jumping on it. You get more props for putting together a helluva hook. And while I found the lyrics to be about as deep as a teaspoon -- which is to say they were no more shallow than anything else you’ve done -- they’re nothing if not clever.
“I’ve got a pole in the basement/I’m just kiddin’ like Jason/unless you gon’ do it…”
Were I in high school, I would have killed to come up with that line. But I’m a little too old for something like that (yes, you’re older than me, but that’s another column).
I also think you caught a bad rap for ‘Airforce 1s.’ I dug it. But what I can’t quite understand is how so many accused you of blatant commercialism for that song -- an ode to a classic model of Nikes -- but still pledge allegiance to Run-DMC and their Adidas.
That was wack. But you’re not wack, I just don’t know what you are.
But I do know that it’s something about your hooks. It’s what makes you different from nearly everyone else. And since you’re smart enough not to try and play like you’re a gangster, you can do that without being roundly ridiculed like Ja Rule was when he tried to pull off the same trick.
You’re a smart man, Nelly. And 10 years from now, you may go down as a legend. You move McDonald’s numbers, but you do it with a style that is uniquely yours. You haven’t achieved superstardom by scaring white folks, or totally pandering to them, either. You’ve got a gift for understanding the pop landscape.
But I still don’t like your music.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t good, though.
You’ve made me realize something, Nelly. Music is important to me, a powerful force that can move my mind, faith, soul and behind simultaneously. Not everyone moves me the same way, and I have an unfortunate tendency to decide that those who don’t touch me are bad.
But listening to you has made me realize that isn’t necessarily the case. It’s the same way I can respect that Tim Duncan is a beast on the court, although I don’t particularly like him. It’s hard to argue with 25 points and 12 boards a game. At the same time, I can’t argue with what you do. Your music gets the job done, even if I don’t like it. You are a pop entertainer, a good pop entertainer. Props to you for that.
And even though I don’t like your work, you shouldn’t be knocked because millions of people adore you. Many of those broke emcees I mentioned before wish they could make catchy records (do you think they like being broke?), so it’s not your fault that your knack for making them is uncanny.
So do whatever it is that you do, derrty. Finally, I’m at peace with it.
With respect,
Bomani
Nov. 5, 2004