Nelly



=== Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr. (born November 2, 1974 in St. Louis, Missouri), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur signed to Universal and Derrty Records. He has been active since 1993 as a bandmate of the rap group [|St. Lunatics], and became a hip-hop superstar after the success of his solo release, [|Country Grammar] , in 2000. The album peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200, spawned multiple chart toppers and won three Grammy awards. His second effort, 2002’s Nellyville, was equally successful and it included the hits “Dilemma” and “Hot in Herre” and was nominated for five Grammy awards, including Album of the Year. In 2004 Nelly released two albums at the same time, Sweat and Suit, and in September they briefly held the two top spots on the charts. His latest album is Brass Knuckles, released in 2008. Nelly spent his early years in Spain and moved to St. Louis, Missouri for elementary school. Nelly's parents divorced when he was eight years old. Nelly admitted he used to get into a lot of fights but by the time he started high school he was into baseball instead. Nelly's passion for baseball helped keep him out of trouble. In 1993 Nelly left his gritty St. Louis neighborhood and settled in the suburban area of University City. Nelly continued to work on his baseball skills and formed a rap group called the St. Lunatics with school pals Kyjuan Ali, Murphy Lee and his little brother City Spud. Two years later Nelly and crew released a 12-inch single called Gimme What Ya Got, which sold almost 10,000 copies. Nelly continued with the Lunatics while playing shortstop in the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association. At the time, it looked as though Nelly would be a professional baseball player. Nelly went to Spain with his father, Air Force Man Cornall Haynes Sr., until he was 3 years old, then moved to St. Louis. Nelly's folks struggled financially and split up when he was 7. As the youngest child in the neighborhood he grew up getting into trouble with the big kids. As a result he ended up moving around to live with various family members. He dreamed of playing pro baseball. He became convinced that his gift for rap could be parlayed into a career.===



==Nelly has been equally active as a businessman; among other ventures, in 2003 he released his own energy drink called “Pimp Juice,” and in 2004 he became a minority owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats basketball team. He is also the CEO of Derrty Entertainment, his own company formed in 2003. Nelly has two clothing lines: Vokal (for men) and Apple Bottoms (for women).==

===The St. Lunatics are a rap crew from [|st. louis], Missouri formed by rapper [|Nelly] and his hometown friends [|Ali], [|Murphy Lee], [|Kyjuan], [|City Spud] and Slo’Down. They were formed in 1993 and came out with their local hit “Gimme what U Got" in 1996. After the St. Lunatics got signed to Universal Records Nelly was the first member to go solo, and while Nelly was working on his solo album Country Grammar, City Spud was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison for robbery. After the break through success of Nelly in 2000, the St. Lunatics released their debut album Free City in 2001 with hits such as "Summer in the city" and "Midwest Swing". Then Ali released his solo album Heavy Starch in 2002 and Murphy Lee released his solo album Murphy's Law in 2003. Murphy has now launched his own label “U C Me ENT.” and is currently promoting his new artists. With the success of “Free City” and its members, a second St. Lunatic album is anticipated amongst the fans. Discussion amongst the St. Lunatics in interviews has lead to believe that they will wait for City Spud’s release to complete the second album, this time with him for the completion of the project.===

===He was soon signed to[| Universal Music Group], which released his major label debut Country Grammar in 2000. The success of its title track as a single (#7 on the Hot 100 and #1 Hot Rap Tracks) led to the album debuting at number three in the Bi llboard 200 in the U.S. Other singles from the album included "[|E.I.]", "[|Ride Wit Me]", and "[|Batter Up]". The album was certified 9× platinum by the RIAA on April 27, 2004.===



===He St. Lunatics managed to put out another song called **Who's The Boss**, which became a local hit. The song helped their reputation locally but didn't grab the interest of record companies. The frustrated St. Lunatics decided to try their luck in Atlanta and teamed up with Kula who was managing Mase at that time. Eventually they realized Nelly would have a better chance of **scoring a record deal** on his own. So with Kula, 19 year-old Nelly attracted Universal Records exec Kevin Law in 1999. Nelly's career was off like a rocket with the release of his song **Country Grammar**, which borrows the hook from the children's song **Down, Down, Baby**.===



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When Nelly first debuted nationally in summer 2000, he seemed like a novelty, but it quickly became apparent that he was, in fact, an exceptional artist, a rapper with truly.
= Nelly and Ashanti = ===R&B star Ashanti and rapper Nelly have reportedly called off their romance. The hip-hop supercouple managed to keep their four-year romance secret until Nelly confirmed in November (08) they are in fact a couple.===

Ashanti even admitted in March (09) that a wedding was “absolutely in the cards” for the pair.
===But now the twosome has split amid claims the Hot in Herre rapper wasn’t ready to settle down with Ashanti, reports the New York Daily News. Which they had two children,a daughter (Chanell Haynes), was born in February 27, 1994 and his son (Cornell Haynes III), was born in March 2, 1999.===