Photo: Isaac Brekken/Getty
Nellyhas put the country back in Country Grammar.
Despite being hugely popular in hip-hop for decades, country music fans have long held a bit of a soft spot for the artist, especially thanks toOver and Over, which he released withTim McGrawin 2004. Now, 17 years after that breakthrough moment, Nelly is again dipping his toe into the twang, having recentlyreleased a country-inspired album.
“It’s been on your mind for a minute,” he told PEOPLE at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas on Saturday of his decision to release his country-influenced album,Heartland. “The country world has been showing me support sinceCountry Grammar, even beforeOver and Over. We were getting booked at like rodeos and festivals and fairs.”
Being a diverse artist works for Nelly, and changing up genres and scenery is old hat.
“We would literally go from doing a show where one of the biggest country stars was headlining, to a show where DMX was headlining,” he said of past tours.
The country world continues to show love to Nelly, asHeartlanddebuted at No. 7 on the Top Country Albums chart when it came out last month.
Nelly gave fans in Las Vegas a taste of the album at the music festival, even performing withFlorida Georgia Line, who appear onHeartland(Nelly famously collaborated with the country duo for their breakout hit “Cruise” in 2012, too). The EP also includes collaborations withKane Brown, Blanco Brown, andDarius Rucker.
While a hip-hop-to-country shift may seem like a harsh transition, Nelly sees the two genres as a perfect blend, and he hopes his new album can be that middle ground.
“You know, everybody just likes to know that there’s something for them in an album,” he explained. “When people realize that he’s got something for me too, then they tend to accept a lot of the other things that they probably didn’t think they would.”
source: people.com
