Nelly leading the pack in heating up summer
By Steve Jones
USA Today
Nelly: "It's getting hot in here/So take off all your clothes."
Guest vocalist Dani Stevenson: "I am getting so hot/I'm gonna take my clothes off."
It's not exactly "Romeo and Juliet"-caliber romantic dialogue, but the chorus above from Nelly's "Hot in Herre" is sparking a heat wave. The song is getting so hot that it's taken off at virtually every pop and R&B radio station across the country. It quickly reached No. 1 in the rhythmic top 40 format and looks to be the defining hit of the summer.
Summer's coming just in time for Nelly (Cornell Haynes) to get things popping. His Neptunes-produced smash is fueling anticipation for his sophomore album, "Nellyville."
"This is coming out about the same time as 'Country Grammar' did last year," says the St. Louis-based rapper, referring to his debut album, which has sold 8 million copies and spawned hits such as "Ride Wit Me," "E.I." and the title track. "Going into the summer, we're trying to get that same feeling going again."
He says that with temperatures rising and kids out of school and staying out later, party anthems are tailor-made for summer.
"People are outside, and they want to have fun, and that's what we want to do," says Nelly, who will probably start touring late this month with his crew, the St. Lunatics, and R&B quartet Jagged Edge. "It's hot, and we're trying to provide the relief."
Nelly isn't the only rapper who has been providing good-time relief in recent weeks. Busta Rhymes wants you to "Pass the Courvoisier," while Ludacris can't wait for "Saturday (Oooh! Oooh!)" and teamed with Jermaine Dupri to provide a "Welcome to Atlanta." Naughty By Nature nominates "Feels Good (Don't Worry Bout a Thing)" as its platform for the rap party.
"Over the last couple of years, people have figured out that the party song is probably the easiest common denominator to get on the radio," says Airplay Monitor editor Sean Ross, who observes that these records can appeal to listeners on several levels.
"You can have a party song and still have battle rhymes (boasts about skills or taunts directed at other rappers)," he says. "And the battle rhymes can still be hard core" as long as the groove gets people to move.
Ross points out that these songs are complemented on play lists by a large number of thug love songs — which could be defined as valentines with attitude — by the likes of Ja Rule, Ashanti, Truth Hurts, Fat Joe and P. Diddy.
"I would assume that just as people figured that a party rhyme was easier to get onto radio," Ross says, "they also figured that it was easier to get something on the air if it was a love song or targeted at women."
As for Nelly, he's not worried about whether "Nellyville" can duplicate his first album's unexpected success. "I can't redo 'Country Grammar' because I'm not in that same mode," he says.
He also dismisses criticism that his slang-infused, sing-songy rhymes are not "real" hip-hop. "I'm just doing me. The people that support me say I should keep doing what I've been doing, and that's what I'm going to do."
