Knuckled Up with Nelly

His name is Nelly. A very feminine name for a very macho rapper, right? Nelly is short for Cornell Haynes Jr. and his life story, which runs like a soap opera, is capsulized in two short paragraphs in a background material sent to Conversations by MCA Music, Inc. which is releasing Brass Knuckles in August. The album, which is Nelly’s first in four years, has Party People as carrier single, featuring Fergie (of the Black Eyed Peas; produced by Polow Da Don who has produced albums for artists like, aside from Fergie, Ludacris and Usher), of which a music critic wrote: Pow! Listening to this is the equivalent of being hugged by Mike Tyson — the testosterone flies out of the speakers. Nelly’s got a bigger, badder hip-hop sound that, frankly, leaves us a bit scared.

Here’s Nelly’s life story:

By now the story of Nelly’s meteoric rise to stardom is a well-known, oft-recited part of hip-hop history. The member of the St. Louis-based rap collective, the St. Lunatics, inks a deal with Universal Records, drops a sizzling single with a familiar nursery rhyme hook and releases a debut album that spawns three humongous hits, yielded three Grammy nominations and sold an incredible nine million plus copies worldwide.
That, of course, is the abridged version of a story that began years ago in a part of St. Louis known as University City. It’s the story of a young man whose life was so unsettled that he moved from place to place, from family member to family member and hung out on the streets with “the big dirties” who introduced him to the underbelly of the city. But Nelly’s is also a story of achievement — overachievement, even. As a child, Nelly, born Cornell Haynes Jr., was always the fastest runner, the best catcher, the hottest player on the team. He was so gifted, in fact, that he almost ended up in professional baseball instead of music.

Early this month, Conversations sat down with Nelly for an exclusive one-on-one in Tokyo where he promoted his Brass Knuckles album. Onstage and in pictures, Nelly may look intimidating, indeed, threatening even. But in person, he’s very gentle, easy to break into a wide smile that reveals his two platinum front teeth that never fail to catch people’s attention.

Excerpts:

Is it hard to take care of a body like yours?

“Hahahahaha! Hmmmm...You’ve got to work out, man! I go to the gym only a little bit now because I’m busy with the promotion of my album. But I try to work out at least two or three times a week.”

And what kind of diet do you have?

“Diet? Well, I haven’t been eating red meat these past 15 years... not a single bite of pork at all for 15 years and no beef in about 10 years. I just thought of also not eating chicken and turkey probably in 2003. I stuff myself with protein. But I eat fish. I do pig out every now and then but very rarely.”

Why did it take you three years to come up with a new album (as a follow-up to Nellyville)?

“Oh, it’s been quite an experience. You see, I lost my sister in 2005 and I lost my grandfather six months later. So, you know, those tragedies were a shock to me because it was the first time ever for me to lose someone as close to me as my sister. It was kind of a different feeling because I don’t show my feelings a lot...I don’t express pain to people...But, you know, it’s a part of life, though. There’s nothing to complain about...I’m not complaining.”

Would you mind telling us what happened to your sister and your grandfather?

“My sister and my grandfather both died of cancer.” (Sounds sad)

Other artists use music as outlet for hurt feelings — as therapy, you know. Do you do the same?

“It’s the first time that something like that has happened to me. Oh, I guess I just did it with my new album. Somewhere down the line, who knows, maybe I will write a song about my sister, for my sister. I might put it on my next album or just keep it for myself. Like I said, I don’t know how to deal with it because I haven’t dealt with this kind of tragedy before. Some people do it early in life, while they are growing up, but it’s different when you get to the age that I am in and all of a sudden something like that happens to you. You know, it’s like your first time to ride a bike when you are grown up.”

How did the twin tragedies affect the way you look at life as a musician?

“I’ve started to look at life in a radically different way and to concentrate on the more important things. I’m spending more time with my kids — you know, being a part of their lives as they grow up. I go with my son to football games, to my daughter’s basketball game. Yeah, my daughter, she’s very good at basketball. My son is nine years old and my daughter is 14.” (Breaks into laughter) “Yeah, I started early! I had my daughter real early...when I was a teenager. Isn’t it very obvious?”

Any lesson from that experience?

(Laughs louder) “Yeah. Use ‘protection.’ Say ‘sex’ but don’t do it, if you can help it. Hahahaha!”

Let’s talk about the album. Why did you call it Brass Knuckles?

“I call it Brass Knuckles because it’s the best way I can describe how hard the album could hit you. It’s kind of a Guns ‘N Roses thing...It’s not really about Guns ‘N Roses but it’s the symbolic meaning behind it — as in brass knuckles...POW!!! You listen to the first single, Party People, and you will notice how energetic the song is.”

What inspires you to write songs?

“Let me see...I did a song which I called Problems and that song would be more along the line of dealing with the day-to-day aspects of being Nelly and being in a position that I am in having people look at you in a particular way as opposed to how you look at yourself because you never know how people look at you. You know, you can only assume because we all have our own opinions about people. Obviously, Body on Me is a nice joint about me and a young lady — you know, you wouldn’t mind her putting her body on yours, would you? Hahahaha! Long Night is a song I did with Usher. I’m sure the ladies are gonna love it. One and Only is about the one and only person, somebody you like to share the rest of your life with.”

When you write a song, do you deliberately try to impart certain values in life?

“Yeah, yeah! I’ve got a song called Self Esteem which I did with the legendary Chuck D from Public Enemy. It’s one of those songs about believing in yourself — you know, you should believe that you can do it. If you have confidence in yourself, it will rub off on the people around you. People will understand that you are a person who can do it and they will start believing in you.”

Who are the artists who have influenced your style?

“Oh, a lot of them! Christina Aguilera is one of them. Man, I like all artists! I like Amy Winehouse, ‘NSYNC, Maroon 5. Come on, man, I like all of them! I’m all-around when it comes to music.”

By the way, are those two platinum teeth some kind of a, you know, “a statement?”

“Ahhhhh...The two platinum teeth are something that I got a long time ago, when I was a kid...you know, one of the silly things that you do during your childhood. I’m not gonna take them out, though.”

Don’t. They look perfect on your face.

“Really? Thank you very much!”

Speaking of childhood, how was yours like?

“It was very musical. You know what, my uncle was very much into music, my father was very much into music. I’m not gonna say that I had a bad childhood because I think somebody else has had a childhood a little bit worse than yours. I’ve had a different childhood, I think, from what other people might have had. My parents got divorced when I was young. I moved around a lot; I got kicked out of school. I played baseball a little bit...what else! Yeah, yeah, it wasn’t such a bad childhood. I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri.”

Who were your childhood idols?

“Yeah. Baseball players. Musicians like LL Cool J, DMC and several others I can’t name just now.”

What’s so special about Party People that you made it your new album’s carrier single?

“I think it’s because one thing that you would love to remember about Nelly is that you can play his music when you try to get the party started, when you try to have a good time. And I want songs that kind of stand the test of time a little bit. Party People is one such song. Listen to it and you will know what I mean.”

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