Ayyy, It Must be the Monayyyyy - Nelly and the Sophomore Slump

This past week, Nelly spit a surprisingly decent "freestyle" on Rap City. I got to thinking about back when he first came on the scene, in 2000, and how if you were to do a hip hop fantasy draft you'd probably have to take him number one seeing as how Country Grammar sold 9 million fucking records - and on top of that, it was actually a decent album.

- That Being Said -

When it comes to falling off Nelly is the hip hop Humpty Dumpty. Emerging on the scene with Country Grammar, Nelly put the midwest back on the map and became 50 Cent before the world even knew 50 Cent. Nelly's style of singing hooks and bridges, coupled with the St. Louis accent, throwing rrrr's at the end of words and E.I. at the end of sentences, Country Grammar, much like Get Rich or Die Trying, was a movement that put a whole crew in the limelight and put Nelly on top of the game.

What happened after that? What happens far too many times in rap - a sophomore slump. Now Nelly didn't suffer a sophomore slump in terms of sales - neither did 50 - just in terms of quality hip hop music. To explain why sophomore slumps consistently plague hip hop artists of living up to their debut's precedent, I am going to look at three simple points:

1) Ay, It must be the money - The bulk of Nelly's debut, and several other mainstream rapper's debuts, deal with the come up - the struggle, the hustle, the joy of making it. On an artist's debut this material feels fresh and real but after an artist goes platinum (9X) an age old problem arises:
(1) now that you've made it what else are you going to rap about?
(2) if you rap about the same problems your lyrics seem played out.

So what do the bulk of rappers do? Make hits for the club, trade credibility for profit aka drop down and get their eagle on.

2) A life in utopia - Life in the garden of Eden, or any where struggle doesn't exist, is meaningless because if everything is perfect there is no room left for progress. The sophomore album of an artist whose debut album almost solely deals with the come up faces the problem of no longer being motivated by the tension that it took to make it.

3) When interviewed about the making of Reasonable Doubt, Irv Gotti, of the VH1 reality show Gotti's Way fame (he may have done some stuff before...), said that often times a rapper or any artist's debut is their best work because they have been working on it their whole life. Twenty years of emotion transformed into art will often be more powerful and meaningful than what an artist can crap out in the one year following the greatest achievement - to that day - of their lives.

Conclusion: When you got something to prove you are dangerous. You are hungry, you are motivated, you are willing to pour your heart and soul into every record. Luven Me was the last song Nelly recorded for Country Grammar. In the song he talks about all the shit he has put his family and loved ones through and how he has so much love for everyone sticking with him through the sacrifices he made to dedicate his life to this album. Think about it: he was drafted by the Cardinals and opted to stay on the streets because making music was his dream. Now, someone that puts that much on the line is going to make sure their music means something. Once that tension, that risk, is gone: rapping becomes like any other job, just something to do to cash a check.

Nelly said he cried after recording Luven Me. What do you think he did after recording Hot in Herre? Wipe his ass with a Benjamin?

Nelly's freestyle on Rap City gives me a glimmer of hope, not Obama HOPE!, but I am almost ready to start lovin Nelly again - well, only if he's got something to prove.

On the side: Country Grammar features interludes from Cedric the Entertainer. While mildly entertaining, I have to say Bernie Mac's interludes on Kanye's shit absolutely murk Cedric's - I feel like this encapsulates the difference between their whole careers as Bernie Mac has just always been a little bit better. Also, Country Grammar features a totally forgotten about guest verse from Young Post Office Weezie - back in the day when Wayne didn't get by on just mailing in verses but solely on the premise of how crazy his voice sounds.

Last thought: Somehow, athletes like Tom Brady are impervious to the sophomore slump because no matter how much they win they still feel like they have a chip on their shoulder. What rapper's have this quality? Jay? Maybe. Anyone else? I don't know. What I do know, is Nelly and 50 and all of them debut album was good then I became a sellout rapper better find it. One.

Thought after the Last Thought: The best part of Luven Me might just be the shout outs from the last verse on the song, and the album. Take a look:

My n--ga Lil' Erv, Gino and Poochie
and everybody over on Euclid and Labade
Young Big Touch, Pooh and Big Baby
Rio, J.T. and Big Money
Herky Jerk, Wezz and Pea and Cody
J.E., K-Ug and Odie
Toe-Fa, M.J., and Cowlby
And all my soldiers down at Fair Ground on Monday
My Lunatic fam, Keyjuan, Murphy Lee
City Spud, T-Love and Big Lee
Yellow Mack, Slow Down, Courtney B


Of all the names, I'm going to go ahead and say Herky Jerk takes the cake. Just imagine being like hey Tanya, these are my friends James, Matt, Liz, and Herky Jerk. I guess that would actually be kind of baller...