Nelly's voice was heard everywhere in the early 2000s: You couldn't turn on a top 40
radio station without hearing it!
But, despite his success, he's been largely M.I.A. since then.
Let's dig in and explore what happened to the rapper, and find out the real reason we
don't hear from him anymore.
Putting the country in country grammar
Nelly first dabbled in the country music scene in 2004 by teaming up with Tim McGraw for
"Over and Over," but even McGraw said there "ain't nothin' country about this song."
However, Nelly returned to country in 2013 on a remix for "Cruise," a track with Florida
Georgia Line.
Though that hit might not have been on the radar for hip hop fans, it was extremely popular
in the pop music community.
He performed the song at the American Music Awards and even toured with the band.
Nelly also crafted his own take on a Thomas Rhett country song, "Die a Happy Man."
In other words, Nelly is redefining his signature country grammar.
You are the company you keep
Trouble with the law doesn't always negatively impact a celeb's success, but legal problems
can hinder creative development and the business side of things.
For an artist like Nelly, who, in 2015, was still reeling from an underwhelming response
to his 2013 album M.O., an arrest didn't help at all.
Nelly was charged in April 2015 with felony possession of drugs, simple possession of
marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Police reportedly found drugs aboard his motor coach outside Nashville, Tennessee.
Nelly's attorney said the rapper was "not associated" with the contraband.
The felony charge was later thrown out.
Nelly participated in a diversion program and was sentenced to 11 months of probation.
In the wake of the arrest, Nelly told TMZ,
"I feel the need to take responsibility for my choices in needing to be more aware of
all the people I associate with and allow onto my property."
The IRS came a-calling
If you knew the kind of trouble Nelly has experienced with the tax collectors, you might
forgive him for being too busy to put out new music.
In 2016, the IRS nailed the rapper with a tax lien worth more than $2,000,000, and that
wasn't the end of it.
He also heard from the Missouri Department of Revenue because he reportedly owed the
state nearly $150,000.
There's a feel-good story here: In a campaign to help the rapper pay off those debts, Nelly
fans tripled his Spotify streams during peak hours.
The grassroots campaign reportedly got underway when Spin reported that fans would have to
"stream a Nelly joint 402,880,500 times to make a decent dent on his tax issues."
"Just pay your monthly debt, so your accounts don't close."
"Being frugal's so hot.
You're gonna pay your bills off."
Nelly did, of course, also have to pay taxes on all that extra money earned from the massive
influx of streams, but he reportedly wasted no time cooperating with authorities to start
paying back what he owes.
Declining interest
As Nelly prepped to release M.O. in 2013, he did just about everything he could have
done to promote it.
He took part in publicity interviews, he threw out the first pitch at a St. Louis Cardinals
game, he dropped a lead single that charted on the Billboard Top 100, and he released
a track list that featured collaborations with some of the industry's biggest stars.
His album should have done well.
But it didn't.
M.O. only sold about 15,000 copies in the first week and reached just 23,000 after two
weeks.
Nelly played the game the way it's supposed to be played, and he still lost.
The poor album sales were a career low.
In fact, his previous album, 5.0, sold 63,000 units in the first week, well over twice what
M.O. sold over the course of a couple weeks.
This was all part of a career-long pattern of declining sales.
Nelly's debut album, Country Grammar, was certified diamond, while his next three releases
all reached platinum status.
2008's Brass Knuckles could only muster a gold certification, while 5.0 and M.O. couldn't
manage any certification.
Boring reality show
While Nelly has dabbled in acting as far back as 2001, his on-screen career really gained
traction in 2005 with The Longest Yard.
He has since been involved in a lot of different TV shows, including CSI: NY and Real Husbands
of Hollywood.
Diversifying his résumé undoubtedly opened more doors for Nelly, but perhaps some of
those doors were better left closed.
In 2014, he signed on for his own BET reality TV show, Nellyville.
It was supposed to offer viewers "an all-access pass to Nelly's life," but the reality was:
Nelly's life wasn't all that exciting.
The show managed to get a second season, but poor reviews and lack of viewer interest ultimately
killed it.
Serious accusations
Perhaps the worst of Nelly's problems have come from his encounters with female fans.
First, there was an accusation in 2017 from a woman claiming she was assaulted
on his tour bus.
The case was dropped when the accuser refused to testify.
She said the public witch hunt that resulted from her claims was too much to handle.
Meanwhile, Nelly's lawyer claimed that her accusation was financially motivated.
Even though that case was dropped, more controversy emerged from it.
Two more women claimed they were assaulted by the rapper after shows in England in 2016.
We may never know what really happened, but it's clear that Nelly's problems are much
more serious than declining sales.