Nelly claims to be the only rapper from his era with no co-sign.
The 16th annual BET Hip-Hop awards event took place this week (Oct. 5) in Atlanta at the Cobb Energy Center where Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B dominated the show. BET also decided to honor the Austin-born rapper Nelly, with the “I Am Hip Hop Award”. During his acceptance speech, Nelly claimed that he’s the only artist from his era with no support.
“I never had a cosign. You know what I’m saying? Nobody stood on stage and put their arm around me,” he said. “Nobody gave me a feature. Nobody put a chain around my neck. I got thrown in the deep end and was told to swim. We hear today and I always want to thank bet for allowing Nelly the honor and pleasure of being visual on their platform, all the way from, you know, day one.”
In an interview with BET, he reflects on his Country album and said that no matter from which genre his fans like, his roots are in hip-hop. “Even though country music is their life and what they do, they grew up on Nelly,” he says. “They grew up on Ludacris. They grew up on Ja Rule. They grew up on 50 Cent. They grew up on Eminem. They still love country music. There’s no way you got through high school in the early 2000s, late 90s, and you didn’t listen to rap music, in some form. Every other genre of music will be extinct before hip hop. There’s no way. Hip hop is a virus. It’s going to infect everything.”
After the show, he told ESSENCE, “People don’t understand when I say I had no co-signers. There was no one to back Nelly. There was no one to stand up for Nelly. People showed me love but there was no one to stand up for me. There was no one solidified to say, ‘Yo, he’s good.’ You can’t name me nobody that’s successful in my era or in what I do that didn’t have a co-signer. Everybody had a co-signer, but Nelly. Everybody.”
He also had an interview with VIBE, he talked about his favorite musical moment, to which he says, “My favorite career moment is just me getting in. Because you had to understand, again, I’m from St. Louis. You know, from the Midwest, from Missouri. Nobody co-signed me. If you look at the majority, a lot of these people who’ve been successful on some level, they got co-signs. I love Eminem, but I didn’t have Dr. Dre. I love 50 Cent, but I didn’t have Eminem and Dr. Dre. I love Snoop, but I didn’t have Dr. Dre. I love Biggie but I didn’t have a Puff [Daddy]. You see what I’m saying? I love 2Pac, [but I] didn’t have a Digital Underground. Didn’t nobody put me on stage. Kanye. Didn’t nobody put no Roc-A-Fella chain around my neck [while I’m] standing on stage. I’m saying all these blood, sweat, and tears were built. You talk about getting it out of the mud. All of what I was able to achieve was built with these hands, my crew, and my city.”
Nellyville, Nelly’s second album, was released in 2002 and debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200 Music Albums, with the first song “Hot in Herre” becoming a number-one smash. “Dilemma,” which featured Kelly Rowland and sold over 7.6 million records worldwide, “Work It,” which featured Justin Timberlake, “Air Force Ones,” which included Murphy Lee and the St. Lunatics, “Pimp Juice,” and “#1” were among the other songs. This album was a huge hit, and on June 27, 2003, it was certified 6x multi-platinum.
To be honest, Eminem did not have Dr. Dre’s approval hanging over his head from birth; instead, Em toiled mightily to reach to the point where major hip-hop figures would take notice of him. But in one way or another, both Em and Nelly contributed to the broad and varied world of rap culture that we like.
Check out his BET Hip-Hop Awards acceptance speech below.
