Nelly: How'd a kid from St. Louis rap his way to the top? With songs that sound like the perfect party

JC: Why does it matter?

N: My little brother's locked up right now. He's in jail. He's in for 10 years and he's only 21.

JC: What did he do?

N: Oh, it's a long story. [Nelly's brother, Lavell Webb, a former member of the St. Lunatics, is reportedly serving a 10-year sentence on drug charges.]

JC: Nellyville sounds like a gritty novel set in St. Louis. Is that where you get your inspiration?

N: My success was the biggest inspiration going into this album--just proving a lot of people wrong who said it wouldn't happen. It did happen, and we gave back to so many people. We take care of well over 40 families--people who feed off of this, who use this for stepping stones to go into different areas of whatever business they're in. That's enough inspiration forever.

JC: You seem very socially conscious for a young buck of 23 years.

N: Yeah. I founded the "4 Sho 4 Kids" foundation. We went into the high schools in the St. Louis area and were able to double the attendance. We got a proclamation from the governor for helping education. We also help children with Down's syndrome, children's literacy programs, children with AIDS, inner-city youth, babies born to mothers addicted to drugs. We also support Faith House, which houses homeless kids.

JC: Now that you're rich and famous, are you going to rap about models and Cristal like Jay-Z?

N: Hip-hop, by its nature, has to be believable. On my first record, I rapped about me being on the block every day and hanging out in the 'hood, basically doing a bunch of nothing. And then I sold eight million albums. So I can't still be rapping about hustling for money to eat or I'll sound like a real idiot. I say, "Let's grow."

Julia Chaplin is a frequent Interview contributor.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Brant Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning