You might remember hearing that Nelly was making a country-music album called Heartland earlier this year. The disbelief we all felt upon hearing the news turned out to be half-right. According to an interview Nelly gave to Rolling Stone, the album will be more of a country-influenced rap album (those are always great) than an outright country album from a St. Lunatic.
Nelly explained the project after he was asked how Heartland was shaping up.
“It got kinda twisted. It’s not actually country, so to speak. I love country music. I respect country music so much that I would never think that I can sit down and just as easy do a country album. That’s not it. That’s just like some country artist saying, ‘Hell, I’m just gonna do a rap album.’ What I will say is that, I’m tryna come up with an idea of doing an EP that crosses all boundaries, all genres and it may feature different country artists…more of a pop-country, pop-R&B, hip-hop, country hip-hop [laughs] type of vibe. But never a “country album,” not like that. I respect country music to the utmost, I never think it’s just that easy.
Nelly — who has had country-tinged hits with “Over and Over” and “Cruise” — explained that he became acquainted with country music while playing baseball as a kid.
“You got to understand, I played baseball too. And playing baseball in the Midwest, you know . . . There’s not a lot of brothers on these teams.”
Nelly also talked about his favorite country-music song (“Cruise! That touches me like nothing else, man. That touches me so deep, it even touches me in my pockets, baby!”) and performing with Taylor Swift and Haim during Swift’s St. Louis tour stop.
“A couple of times, they flew me out to come wherever she was performing. I think one time it was in Houston. And, you know, the girl’s f*ckin’ loaded, she sends her own plane to come get you and sh*t, so it’s not a biggie…It’s a jet, man. She ain’t got it all doily-ed up and nothing like that. It’s better than the one I don’t have.”
Nelly is surprisingly candid throughout the whole interview, talking about “The Fix”, Country Grammar and race relations, among other topics. Check it out here.
