| Product Summary | | Label: Uni/universal Records | | UPC: 00601215774320 | | Release Date: 6/27/2000 | | Buy.com Sku: 60412003 | | Item#: MF2LL4 | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 25079 | Format:  CD |
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(P) 2000 Universal Motown Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
(C) 2000 Universal Records Inc.
| The MC from St.Louis started is hip-hop crusade in the earliy 1990's beginning with the St.Lunatics. Nelly, a.k.a. Cornell Haynes, left the group to start his own solo career. The result is his first album titled "Country Grammar" which has fully fledged St.Louis sound.
| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: Nelly, Lil' Wayne, The Teamsters, St. Lunatics, Murphy Lee, Ali, City Spud (rap vocals); Cedric The Entertaner (spoken vocals). | | Producers: Jason "Jay E" Epperson, City Spud, Steve "Blast" Wills. | | Recorded at Unique Studios, New York, New York. | | COUNTRY GRAMMAR was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and "Country Grammar" was nominated for Best Solo Rap Performance. | | "Ride Wit Me" was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Solo Rap Performance. | | Personnel includes: Nelly, Lil' Wayne, The Teamsters, St. Lunatics, Cedric The Entertainer. | | Producers: Jason "Jay E" Epperson, City Spud, Steve "Blast" Wills. | | Recorded at Unique Studios, New York, New York. | | COUNTRY GRAMMAR was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and "Country Grammar" was nominated for Best Solo Rap Performance. | | Personnel: Nelly (vocals). | | Audio Mixers: Jason Standard; Richard Travali. | | Recording information: Unique Studios, New York, NY. | | By the time of Country Grammar's release in summer 2000, the album's title track had become a major hit single for the previously unknown St. Louis rapper Nelly, who was making his national debut. In particular, the song's tongue-twisting chorus is downright infectious: "I'm goin down down baby, yo' street in a Range Rover/Street sweeper, baby, cocked ready to let it go/Shimmy shimmy cocoa what? Listen to it pound/Light it up and take a puff, pass it to me now" -- or something like that. There are many more tongue-twisting singalong moments like this on Country Grammar, such as "Ride wit Me" and "E.I.," enough to make the album an engaging overall listen, despite some pedestrian rapping at times. More than anything, Nelly's knack for writing -- and singing -- such infectious hooks makes Country Grammar an exceptional album for its time, one that transcends regional styles like Dirty South and is universal in its (Midwestern?) pop-rap appeal. Some of the credit should go to producer Jason "Jay E" Epperson, who showcases a lot of talent over the course of Country Grammar. ~ Jason Birchmeier | | With this, his Universal Records major-label debut, St. Louis native Nelly was poised to place the Midwest on the hip-hop map in the same way that Master P did for New Orleans. The 20-year-old MC combines bouncy, funky tracks with a cool, unique vocal draw. | | The title track was one of the year 2000's most infectious tracks, with its memorable chorus hook based on the children's song "Down, Down Baby." The rapper is joined by the Hot Boys' Lil Wayne on "For My" and the New York-based duo the Teamsters on "Never Let 'Em C U Sweat." His crew, the St. Lunatics, joins the fracas on "Steal the Show" and "Batter Up." COUNTRY GRAMMAR proves that there's always room for an album of cool beats and slick lyrics, no matter where you call home. | | With this, his Universal Records major-label debut, St. Louis native Nelly was poised to place the Midwest on the hip-hop map in the same way that Master P did for New Orleans. The 20-year-old MC combines bouncy, funky tracks with a cool, unique vocal draw. | | The title track was one of the year 2000's most infectious tracks, with its memorable chorus hook based on the children's song "Down, Down Baby." The rapper is joined by the Hot Boys' Lil Wayne on "For My" and the New York-based duo the Teamsters on "Never Let 'Em C U Sweat." His crew, the St. Lunatics, joins the fracas on "Steal the Show" and "Batter Up." COUNTRY GRAMMAR proves that there's always room for an album of cool beats and slick lyrics, no matter where you call home. |
Engineer: Steve Eigner |
Musical Guests | | Lil Wayne | | Ali | | Cedric The Entertainer | | St. Lunatics | | City Spud | | Murphy Lee | | Teamsters |
| | Artist Overview | | St. Louis, Missouri rapper Nelly (of the St. Lunatics clique) dominated MTV and radio in late 2000 with his debut COUNTRY GRAMMAR, which featured irresistible hooks, a danceable tempo, newly styled bounce beats different from the New Orleans-based No Limit output, and, perhaps most importantly, Nelly's own photogenic, confident appeal. Pushing a party atmosphere is nothing new in commercial hip-hop, but Nelly delivered the product with country twang-inflected lyrics full of St. Louis regionalisms, hence "country grammar." The distinctive MC would prove no flash in the pan, notching top-selling albums and radio hits (most notably, the club banger "Hot in Herre") throughout the '00s. |
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| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 06/27/2000 | | Original Release Date : 2000 | | Catalog ID : 157743 | | Label : Uptown | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Runtime : 66m : 35s | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00601215774320 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Rolling Stone (8/31/00, pp.73-74)
- 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...Quick-rolling liquid bass bumps wrap around his wordplay-heavy sing-song rhyme-flow....the best thing to come out of St. Louis since Redd Foxx."Rolling Stone (8/31/00, pp.73-74)
- 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...Quick-rolling liquid bass bumps wrap around his wordplay-heavy sing-song rhyme-flow....the best thing to come out of St. Louis since Redd Foxx." Entertainment Weekly (7/21/00, p.78)
- "...What salvages Nelly is his voice...appealingly minimalist tracks, and introspective moments like 'Ride Wit Me'..." - Rating: B- Entertainment Weekly (7/21/00, p.78)
- "...What salvages Nelly is his voice...appealingly minimalist tracks, and introspective moments like 'Ride Wit Me'..." - Rating: B- Q (1/01, p.92)
- Included in Q's "50 Best Albums of 2000". Q (11/00, p.112)
- 4 stars out of 5 - "...A peerless party record. All rubbery beats and shameless pop nous..." Q (1/01, p.92)
- Included in Q's "50 Best Albums of 2000". Q (11/00, p.112)
- 4 stars out of 5 - "...A peerless party record. All rubbery beats and shameless pop nous..." The Source (5/00, pp.216,218)
- 3.5 mics out of 5 - "...Validates Nelly's husky, singsongy style as the new steez to jock. The boy's thick, gospel flavor is so nice at times that he'll soon be stealing collab gigs from Goodie Mob's Cee-Lo..." The Source (5/00, pp.216,218)
- 3.5 mics out of 5 - "...Validates Nelly's husky, singsongy style as the new steez to jock. The boy's thick, gospel flavor is so nice at times that he'll soon be stealing collab gigs from Goodie Mob's Cee-Lo..." NME (Magazine)
(9/23/00, p.34)
- 9 out of 10 - "...Slurred and slow and damn proud of it. Nelly is legit and eased...and is the year's dreamiest new hip-hop discovery....This album's one in a million; pure gold. Album of the year so far." NME (Magazine)
(9/23/00, p.34)
- 9 out of 10 - "...Slurred and slow and damn proud of it. Nelly is legit and eased...and is the year's dreamiest new hip-hop discovery....This album's one in a million; pure gold. Album of the year so far." |
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