Contributed
Nelly

Emmanuel Ezugwu, Contributor

With a catalogue of global Top 10 hits, multi-platinum albums, a slew of Grammy, MTV and Billboard Awards gracing his St Louis mantelpiece, Nelly's one of music's most bankable and consistent stars. Emmanuel Ezugwu meets the superstar entertainer to talk music, role models and controversy.

Emmanuel Ezugwu: When you came out in 2000, rap was dominated by the East and West Coast. However, in your debut, 'Country Grammar', you introduced slang from the south into mainstream music. What were your motives behind that?

I was just saying who we were. Because we were from the south of America we were seen as 'country'. But at the same time how we spoke was hot, so I was like 'yeah this is how we talk, but so what?' (smiles).

In songs like 'Grillz' and 'Air Force One' you've rapped about trends that have become popular. Can we expect any similar tracks on the new album, 'Brass Knuckles'?

I got a song on their called Stepped On My J's after Michael Jordan's trainers. When I was in school Jordans used to come out during the weekdays and we were actually the reason that it stopped coming out on a weekday, because everyone would skip school. Right after first hour we would leave school and go to the mall where you'd see thousands of other kids from different schools wanting to get their pair. So it was real big and influential.

How many pairs do you have?

Too many! I've got every number, different colours - everything! My collection is stellar. Me and Jermaine (Dupri) we go back a lot and compete a lot on our Jordan collections.

Who has more?

He has probably got more. He has probably got a lot of his old, old ones (smiles). But he's been in the same place for a long time and I've moved around so much that I don't even know where my Jordans are. He has probably got an original pair from '95 at his mum's house.

How did your female clothing line Apple Bottoms come about?

Because of all my fans, man. The majority of my fans are female, so when we first did Vokal, which is the men's clothing line, I didn't just want to do female version of that. I thought it should stand on its own. Women are different, so I came up with the name Apple Bottoms and I thought it was hot. The jeans are for the woman that has a little more curves then ordinary. In fact, Apple Bottoms just celebrated our three-year anniversary in the States and have grossed over the US$100 million sales mark thus far.

Congratulations! FloRida did a lot for Apple Bottoms jeans in his song 'Get Low'. When did you hear about the song and what did you make of it?

I heard it on the radio and I thought it was hot, (sings) "she had the Apple Bottoms jeans". I congratulated him for breaking every digital download known to man. That was crazy! Even with T-Pain, what can I say? The guy is a monster and he's a talent - he's unbelievable. It was more of a congratulatory kind of thing and they definitely didn't hurt us (smiles).

Since being in the UK, what would you say are the main differences between UK girls and US girls?

Woman here have different personalities, but I guess women have different personalities wherever they're from. All women enjoy being sexy - I don't think that changes depending on the country you're from. Overall, there are not a lot of differences other then regional stuff like the accent. Woman enjoy fashion, period. End of discussion. There's a lot of beautiful woman here.

In your song 'LA' about women's chests in 'LA'. Are you not a fan of plastic surgery?

Well, it's not like I'm not a fan, it's just out there it's almost the 'thing to do', which is not a bad thing because if that's what you want to do, then do whatever makes you happy.