Track Listing

1. U Ain't Him feat. Rick Ross
2. Hold Up feat. LL Cool J and T.I.
3. LA feat. Snoop and Nate Dog
4. Long Night feat. Usher
5. Lie feat. St. Lunatics
6. Party People feat.Fergie
7. Self-Esteem feat. Chuck D
8. Body On Me feat. Akon and Ashanti
9. Stepped On My J'z feat. Ciara and JD
10. Let It Go Lil Momma feat. Pharrell One and Only
11. One And Only
12. Who F**ks w/ Me feat. Avery Storm
13. UCUD GEDIT feat. Gucci Mane and R. Kelly

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57329 in Music
• Brand: Universal
• Released on: 2008-09-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Album Description
Grammy award-winning artist Nelly breaks four years of silence with straight hand-to-mic combat on his fifth studio album Brass Knuckles.

The St. Louis rapper has sold 30 million albums to date -- and he's approaching his upcoming release with renewed intensity. "When you're the champion you have to psyche yourself into thinking you're the underdog, even if people don't see you as that," Nelly confesses. "Nobody going to give you anything, you got to work hard for what you want. You got to continue to press."

Nelly makes his statement in the form of brass-tacks vocal tracks, dance floor anthems and suggestive, seductive slow jams. A master at dynamic collaborations, he's assembled a cast of all-stars to collaborate including Usher, Pharrell, Akon, Ciara, Chuck D, Snoop Dogg, Jermaine Dupri, Ashanti, Avery Storm and the St. Lunatics. "When you hear the energy change, or the tempo switches to a nice flow, it means something," he says. Nelly shows his versatility spitting rhymes with deep, percussive flow, and then switching it up to sing over soulful hooks.

Party People: The first single, "Party People," pairs him with Fergie. It's a raucous attention getter, laying the foundation for what's to come - the party is in full swing. "People wonder why I keep the clubs jamming. You can't make a club song if you don't go to the clubs. People always think I'm going out partying, but what I'm doing is seeing what the DJ is spinning. I want to hear and see what's the next thing."

Let It Go: Nelly gets dirty, Derrty style, with Pharrell on vocals over the Neptunes' crackly beats.

Self Esteem: The vibe changes with "Self Esteem," a fluid, inspirational track featuring Chuck D about staying true in the face of struggle, such as a soldier serving in an unjust war. "There are so many obstacles in life to overcome and as soon as you jump over one, there come another one. But we got to be strong and stay strong."

"My all time favorite collaboration is with Chuck D. I heard the track and did the song and I felt something was missing." Public Enemy's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" ran through his head. "Before Chuck even heard the song, he was like, I'll do it. That felt so good to me, that he trusted me. He knew that I wouldn't bring him no mess. That's Public Enemy, that's our CNN of hip hop."

Long Night: Nelly smoothes it out with Usher on "Long Night" -- an intricate musical cut, stacked with thick harmonies. "Sometimes you do songs with R &B artists and you do your verse, and they sing the hook but this one wasn't like that. This one, we're into the song."

Stepped on My J'z: The signature Nelly song featuring Jermaine Dupri and Ciara pays ode to the classic Jordan sneakers. "Shoes are a part of the hip-hop culture. I love my J's. I grew up in that era. I'm part of the reason why Jordan's don't come out on the weekday no more. I used to cut school to get a pair of the new joints"

The time away from the spotlight has been wrought with life lessons for Nelly, balancing the personal and the public, with the loss of his sister Jackie in 2005 after a long struggle with leukemia. "That's the biggest thing to ever happen in my life. That was my heart. Everybody deals with pain differently. I am not one that's going to sit in the room and sulk. No one can harm me worse than I can harm myself. It put me in a different place, but it put me in a better place. I see what is now. It's really simple. It's your family. It's your kids. It's the charitable work that you do. It's keeping it real with yourself."

While some would've thrown in the towel, Nelly never strayed far from the studio and he continued to grow his business ventures -- the Apple Bottom brand, Skybox a new St. Louis Sports Bar and part ownership of the Charlotte Bobcats -- and philanthropic work through his charities 4 Sho 4 Kids and Jes Us 4 Jackie.

Nelly is a man about his business. An award-winning artist who's up for the challenge, primed for battle .....here we go, round five with Brass Knuckles - ding ding.

About the Artist
In the summer months of 2000, steam rose off the banks of the Mississippi River. With the single "Hot," Cornell "Nelly" Haynes, an unknown rapper from a sleepy Midwestern metropolis stunned the recording industry, selling over a quarter of a million copies of his debut album Country Grammar during its first week of release. Nelly quickly proved his star potential with follow up singles "E.I" and "Ride Wit Me" on an album that would go onto sell 9 million copies -- the spirited rapper from St. Louis, Missouri had indeed brought the heat.

Out of the gate, the staying power of this breakout artist from the Midwest was underestimated by coastal critics, a naïve assumption that Nelly would easily overcome. Two years later, his sophomore album Nellyville established his widespread appeal, selling 6 million albums and earning him two Grammies for the singles "Hot in Herre" and "Dilemma."

The gateway to the Wild West, St. Louis has long struck a chord producing unforgettable talents that stand the test of time - Chuck Berry, Ike and Tina Turner and Miles Davis. For a generation raised with hip hop sensibilities, Nelly has taken the reigns as the residing voice, blending smooth Southern cadence and Midwestern inflection that ride easy over beats and infectious hooks. It's 2008 and with 35 million records sold, Nelly is one of the industry's top recording artists. Yet, he remains the voice of the tough town with heart. It's high time for Nelly to show and prove once again with his fifth studio album titled Brass Knuckles.

His track record is irrefutable -- there's the platinum-selling remix album Da Derrty Versions (The Reinvention) in 2003 and another Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group with "Shake Ya Tailfeather" a collaboration with Murphy Lee and P Diddy. Even in a more fickle market, he's still managed to score platinum on not one, but two albums Sweat and Suit released simultaneously in 2004. On Suit he challenged the formula for a hit record collaborating with country music icon Tim McGraw on the number one "Over & Over." This unique approach elevated him to four number one hits -- the most by a male artist in the Top 40 charts.

While Nelly was destined for solo stardom, he's a resolute team player who builds off those who've been there for the journey. He introduced the world to his group the St Lunatics including Ali, Murphy Lee, Kyjuan and Slo Down with the platinum album Free City in 2001. This released propelled solo careers, including Murphy Lee's platinum album Murphy's Law, released on Derrty Entertainment, Nelly's joint venture with Universal Records. The label is one of Nelly's business ventures.

Nelly remains an artist to the core, albeit one with an uncanny business savvy. His clothing lines for men and women Vokal and Apple Bottoms are sold in major department stores and his beverage, Pimp Juice (inspired by a hit song under the same name) has sold millions of units and been recognized by beverage industry as the "People's Choice" for best energy drink. He is a part owner of the NBA expansion team, the Charlotte Bobcats.

The sporting world is a natural fit for Nelly, who was a serious shortstop slugger for his suburban University City high school team, scouted by the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves before music called. He came full circle to the field performing at Super Bowl XXXV and XXXVIII in 2001 and 2004. Most recently he opened Skybox, a St. Louis sports bar and grill and is putting together a multi-million dollar athletic facility.

Nelly, who is still an active athlete, relied on his training to ready himself for his major film debut in the "Longest Yard" starring alongside Burt Reynolds, Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. The film showed yet another talented side of Nelly, who held his own with the box-office stars.

Many artists lose themselves in the glare of stardom, but Nelly has remained true. Perhaps, that has to do with his roots in St. Louis - and the people who've been there for him.To date, nine lives have been saved by the foundations efforts to match donors.With so many ventures under his belt, how does Nelly find time for music? It's easy when you've got something to say and audience hungry to listen. Take a closer look at Nelly -- this summer the heat is still rising off the Mississippi.

Customer Reviews

I Used To Like Nelly

Nelly and producer Jason Epperson made miracles in 2000 when they with a very restrained budget managed to make "Country Grammar" one of the most sold albums of the year with hits like the title track, peaking at #7 "Ride With Me" #3 and "E.I" #15. Nelly combines alot of Dirty South elements with swagger, by singing the infectious hooks and rapping with a very unique flow that perfectly matched the sound, thus being a pioneer for populizing Southern Hip Hop aswell as making it commercial enough for the charts, something that was rare for Southern Hip Hop at this point, aswell as Rap songs becoming top #10 hits hits in general. Although "Country Grammar" wasn't an exellent album by any means it ultimately sold 15 million copies. Nelly's success was a fact. Nelly's next album "Nellyville" almost sold as much and while it continued where his first album left off, it also expanded his boundary by a couple of massive hits, in particular The Neptunes produced "Hot in Herre" that spent 7 weeks at #1 on the Billboard charts only to be suceeded by of his own Hip Hop ballad "Dilemma" with Kelly Rowland, a cleaver remake of Patti Labelle's 1983 hit "Love, Need and Want You". It would spend another 7 weeks as #1 aswell as the #3 hit "Air Force Ones" about Nike Shoes. In 2004 Nelly decided to release two albums simultaneously, the club friendly "Sweat" and the more laid back "Suit". A few hits come up, like #4 "My Place" with Jaheim, #3 "Over and Over" with Tim McGraw and then the #1 hit "Grillz With Paul Wall, populizing tooth jewelry for the first time in a big hit, he had also previosuly had a big hit with "Shake Ya Tailfeather" peaking at #1 with Diddy and Murphy Lee for the Soundtrack of Bad Boys 2. At this time Nelly became the wealthies rapper in Hip Hop and by all those big time collaborations he had on Sweet/Suit it was apparent that he had changed from the charming southerner who sang his own hooks and still made it so well to a wealthy young man who was more interersted in having hits then earning them.

After a few years Nelly is back with a new album called "Brass Knuckles" his first in 4 years, with a title like that can we expect a tougher Nelly now?. But alot of things have changed. Hip Hop is diffrent with all those futuristic beats that is setting the trends, Jay-Z has surpassed Nelly as the richest man in Hip Hop and plenty of other southern rappers like T.I, Ludacris and Lil Wayne are up for the competition. So what is there to expect from this new album? Nelly promised more hot collaborations here, especially from Bruce Springsteen and Mariah Carey but after a closer look at the album none of them are being found, but another 19 member guest list for it's 14 tracks though. The first three singles all bombed on the charts and they're infact all terrible. Polow Da Don's attempt at making a party song with Fergie aptly titled "Party People" was so bad that I was embarrased caught listening to it. Akon's "Body On Me" sounds like the anthem to an X-rated flick, not a duet between him and girlfriend Ashanti, although the trademark hook from Akon was quite meliodic and then "Stepped On My J's" is just repetitive wih lazy production, Dupri do his best to ruin the song with his guest appearence as always. The ridicolous "Wadsyaname" that stole Kci And Jojo's "All My Life" didn't even make the final cut, which is a positive thing afterall. But if these songs are the singles choises what can we expect from the rest of the album?.


The repetitive Neptunes produced "Let It Go Mama" could've been a highlight but the forced hook ain't no southern sing-a-long thing and it ends up being annoying. The Polow Da Don produced "Lie" a song about relationship problems got the beat and the hook but the lyrics are so bad it's funny. Two more Polow songs are "One And Only" a decent love song and only song without guests and "Uced Gedit" which is the opposite with naughty lyrics from R. Kelly and Gucci Mane. On the bragadocio anthem "Hold Up" with LL Cool J and T.I, Nelly claims that his only goal is to be "young, black and rich" and that others want to be him, more like "Old, Tired and Unmotivated", the same goes for "U Ain't Him" with ex Prison guard err I mean Hustler Rick Ross. A tribute to the west coast called "LA" with Snoop Dogg (who else!) with a typical west coast beat is just weird. Isn't Nelly from St.Louis, why is he trying to please everyone?. "Long Night" with Usher is a seductive song for the ladies while "Chill" is a song about not messing with him, sounds like something that 50 Cent would come up with lyrically and by beats. "Who F Wit Me" got interesting spanish guitar riffs but the lyrics are more bragadocio. The absolute standout is "Self Esteem" With Chuck D and it's about archiving your goals against all odds. It's deep and personal, why not more like this?

Overall, 1-2 songs that are good doesn't save this album form being a fiasco. Nelly has completely abandoned the cathcy sing a long songs that makes him a star back in the early decade and he's trying way hard to apply to current trends and to please diffrent groups. There's also a little too much bragadocio here, something he should save for 50 Cent or Young Jeezy. But the biggest and most aparent problem is that the songs are simply not memorable enough. That's why Nelly brought in so many guests to fill the gap. And it seems like Nelly is hardly trying either. Maybe he's content with his current life and just see rapping as a hobby. You mustn't buy this. 1'5 stars.

A Miss on Nelly's Part
After the great SUIT, Nelly was truly on top of his game. As poppish as that album was, it was strong. Who would've thought that Nelly would ever fall out of the limelight or that his pop-rap excursions would fall flat. Both of those terrible things happen on BRASS KNUCKLES. After a 4 year hiatus, you would expect that Nelly would be ready to comeback with a star-studded 4-star affair, much like SUIT was 4 years ago (Sweatsuit was issued in 2005 combining SUIT/SWEAT). BRASS KNUCKLES, much like Jay-Z's KINGDOM COME comeback falls short. The difference between those two is that KINGDOM COME was at least enjoyable. BRASS KNUCKLES just plain feels second-rate. Even the standout tracks aren't nearly as potent as Nelly's past triumphs - "Body On Me" featuring Akon and Ashanti feels stale, even though it is on of BRASS KNUCKLES standout's. "Party People" is fun enough, but its overall stupidity catches up quickly. I mean, Fergie rapping was so 2006. Evidently, Nelly rapping was so 2004, since he sounds so uninspired on BRASS KNUCKLES.

The album opens mediocrely with "U Ain't Him" featuring the ubiquitous Rick Ross. It's nothing to write home about for sure. The T.I./LL Cool J featuring "Hold Up" is at least fun, and the beat is sick, but still, it doesn't truly captivate the listener. "La" features an uninspiring Snoop Dogg, which does nothing for the momentum of the album. Usher shines on "Long Night", unfortunately, the track is forgettable. "Lie" featuring the St. Lunatics is average as well and ultimately forgettable. "Party People" featuring Fergie has only so much sustaining power before a couple of listens makes it sound as uninspired as everything else. "Self-Esteem" featuring Chuck D is a clear-cut miss and perhaps one of the corniest Nelly tracks - EVER. "Body On Me", a rather underrated single restores some momentum, and a couple of great proceeding tracks via "Stepped on My J'z" (featuring JD & Ciara) and "Let It Go Lil' Mama" (featuring Pharrell) finally bring some muscularity to a rather tepid album. From there, BRASS KNUCKLES falls on its arse with a couple of forgettable uninspired numbers ("One and Only", "Chill", "Who F***s Wit Me", and "Ucud Gedit").

It's unfortunate for Nelly BRASS KNUCKLES turned out so tepid. I don't recommend this album, particularly with many better hip-hop albums (Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, The Game...) 2 stars is generous.

Waste Of Money
Do not spend your monry on this listen to something with thought behind it. You will not be happy if you buy this.