English Breakfast

Break out the superficial Band-Aids and the Vokal jeans, St. Louis’s unofficial mayor is in full effect. With his energy on a hundred, Nelly got up with The Breakfast Club to discuss everything from Ferguson, to ownership of the Charlotte Bobcats, his TV show and even touched on the Drake vs Meek Mill beef. If nothing else, the animated Missouri entrepreneur provides glimpse into the many hustles he balances while maintaining a family life as normal as he could possibly hope for.

Things got exciting when he was asked about the Meek and Drake beef. Nelly pointed out how quickly the beef came and went relative to the Biggie and Pac saga that stretched out over a year. When he was asked about who won, he noted that he doubts any fans of either artists were jumping ship after the light war of words but that he understands Meek’s perspective, even if he wouldn’t have advised him to come out swinging.

“When you get to a certain level, it’s just certain things that you accept and that may be how you make hit records and not how you make hit rap records, ” Nelly said. “I don’t know anybody that’s been in this game, four-five records deep that had six, seven, eight number ones that haven’t took references or some type of influence from somewhere else.”

When asked if he has ever taken references, Nelly laughed and didn’t miss a beat.

“Taken references? How could you not? I’ve worked with producers like Pharrell, JD – you working with producers like that – those are producers. They ain’t just giving you beats.”

While we don’t need to rehash the countless commentary pieces on Quentin Miller tarnishing Drizzy’s legacy, hearing an artist from the golden era of record sales speak on how little it matters provides an interesting perspective to digest. Most people aren’t putting Nelly in their Top 5 lyricists of all time but his track record for hits that spin to this day, all over the world, speak volumes.

The 30-minute interview shows a candid Hip-Hop superstar a few years removed from his no. 1 spot but still loving life and hustling like he is on the bottom of the totem pole. Spend a little time with Dirrty and you might find yourself revisiting those old Nelly classics (yes, classics) with a little more backstory to them.