Nelly - "Nellyville"
Reviewed By: ULTIMATECDLINK
Album Rate: 4.00 out of 5 Stars
After the multi-platinum release of "Country Grammar", STL's Nelly finally drops the sophomore effort almost two years later. First impression is that this album will be made entirely for MTV but it's not entirely true.
1. Nellyville-- the album starts off on a good note with one of the best songs on the album. The beat is pretty tight...kinda got that guitar feel like "Number One". The R&B hook goes "there's no way I could explain/the way I feel about Nellyville". Nelly drops some very nice verses here. He introduces himself as the mayor of "Nellyville" and he basically descibes "Nellyville" in his rhymes. Tight track overall.
2. Gettin It Started (f/ Cedric The Entertainer)-- skit
3. Hot In Herre-- this is the first single from the album that I'm sure most of you have heard by now. As usual, the Neptunes give us a different sound on this dance track.
4. Dem Boyz (f/ St. Lunatics)-- there is an echo on this song that gets pretty annoying as the song goes along. Nelly and Murphy Lee come pretty tight on this track though. Not that bad of a track.
5. Oh Nelly-- the beat on this track sounds like a song from Ali's album (which escapes me at the moment). This song is more up-tempo. I'm not really feelin it.
6. Pimp Juice-- this song has that old skool feel to it and in fact Nelly sings the entire track instead of his usual sing-song rap. But I think it works better this way because this is one of those songs that had my head bobbin. I hope he releases this as a single so people will be singing "talking bout my pimp juice/I gotta let it loose". This is one of favorite tracks on the album.
7. Air Force Ones (f/ St. Lunatics)-- the beat got that typical St. Lunatics that we are becoming accustomed to complete the laser sounds. They just rappin about gettin some new shoes at the Foot Locker. The other members of the St. Lunatics basically rap this entire track.
8. In The Store (f/ Cedric the Entertainer)-- skit
9. On The Grind (f/ King Jacob)-- King Jacob is one half of the duo King Jacob & Professor who are signed to Nelly's label. King Jacob drops a tight second verse. The hook to this song is pretty catchy.
10. Dilemma (f/ Kelly Rowland)-- Kelly Rowland is a member of Destiny's Child. Now I know what most of you are thinking at this point--commercial song made for MTV. You guys would be right thinking that, and this song is gonna be huge if Nelly releases it as a single. It's a slow R&B song that is actually one of the best songs on the album. Kelly sings about how she loves Nelly even though she already has a man and now she has a decision to make. Both Nelly and the beats are tight on this song.
11. Splurge-- this song starts off with some horns with some drums kickin in. Nelly raps about how he went from obscurity to being one of the top rappers in the game now and how he can afford to splurge a little on cars, rims, and jewelry. Pretty good song.
12. Work It (f/ Justin Timberlake)-- Justin Timberlake is a member of boy band NSync and this song plain blows. Not feelin it at all.
13. Roc The Mic Remix (f/ Murphy Lee, Beanie Sigel & Freeway)-- this song was originally on the State Property Soundtrack I think. Beanie Mac starts off followed by a verse from Freeway. Murphy Lee is up next, and he drops an OK verse. Nelly closes it out with a mediocre verse.
14. The Gank-- this song starts off with an electric guitar before the drums kick in. Nelly sings on this entire song about how he realizes his girl left because he's wrapped up in everything going on in his life.
15. 5000-- skit
16. Number One-- this is the single off the Training Day Soundtrack. I'm sure you've all heard it so I won't say anything about it here.
17. CG2 (f/ St. Lunatics)-- this is supposed to Country Grammar 2. Basically they should have left the original alone. I'm not feelin this track although Ali drops a nice verse.
18. Say Now-- the beat starts out with a piano playing followed by a guitar. It sounds like the beat to a country song. It's a slow song that tells a story like a country song. Overall, Nelly comes with pretty nice verses on here.
19. Fuck It Now-- skit
Overall, I thought that this CD was not as good as Country Grammar but it wasn't near as MTV/commercial as I thought it would be. There is more of an R&B feel to this album. Nellyville comes with some very nice beats and it's share of tight songs. In fact, I predict that Jason "Jay E" Epperson will finally get some recognition as one of the top producers after the release of this album after being underrated for the last couple of years. If you are a Nelly fan, you will like this album. If you are a Nelly hater, then stay away because you will not find anything on this album for you.
Nelly - "Nellyville"