Nelly Album: “Suit [PA]”

I WISH PEEPS STOP HATING ON NELLY SO MUCH. Y'ALL AND THE MEDIA PUT THAT "THUG" LABEL ON HIM AS SOON AS HE CAME OUT WITH "COUNTRY GRAMMAR". I'VE NEVER HEARD HIM SAY HE WAS THUG OR HARD. HE'S ALWAYS TRIED TO MAKE SONGS THAT HIS FANS COULD DANCE TOO. ANYWAYS, I LOVED HIS TRACKS ON SUIT. ESPECIALLY, "PLAY IT OFF", "PRETTY TOES", "MY PLACE", "N DEY SAY", & "OVER AND OVER". IT'S TRUE RAP NIGHT LIFE MUSIC.

This is the best cd of the year! Here are my reviews for all the songs: Play It Off-4/5, Pretty Toes-4/5, My Place-5/5 (Jaheim makes the song even better!), Paradise-5/5, She don't know my name-4/5 (Ron Isley makes this song good!), N Dey Say-5/5 (This song has a good story), Woodgrain and Leather Wit a Hole-5/5, In My Life-5/5 (Mase and Avery Storm make this song awesome!), Over and Over-5/5, Nobody Knows-5/5 (Anthony Hamilton makes this song awesome!), Die for You-5/5. Overal:5/5. This is the best Nelly cd so far. If he continues this RnB style, it will make over-joyed! Good CD Nelly!

...ok, so that is a lyric from Sweat...here I will focus on Nelly and his fascinating album Suit...interesting R& B, nice collaborations (Snoop, Tim Mcgraw, etc...). Suit is a great album from a young and talented man, Mr. Nelly himself. It is a softer, more R& B side and sound to the Midwest hip hop rapper...Nelly is a evolving mature artist...there is something very powerful about his energy and abilities as an entertainer...he feels almost regal and royal as an artist, even the angle of his cheekbones is one of strength. And the voice; a rapper's best (and sometimes only) instrument is his voice. Nelly's voice cuts powerfully through all genres...haunting, self-assured, and noticeable. His lyrics are real and creative on Suit, as with all his other albums...I think he will continue to grow and evolve as an artist and entertainer, and that is a good thing! We do not see too many 65 year old rappers out there, but it would be a good thing...rap is still in its infancy compared to pop, rock, etc...but will it age well and stand the test of ephemeral time??? The lyrics are modern day poetry, right from the artist's own experience (whether form the street or the heart). And Nelly is no exception, especially on Suit. We see a softer side, not at all mushy or sell out...production quality is strong and consistent throughout...a good introduction to Nelly for anyone just getting into his music. While Country Grammar may be the big heavy hitter, I think Suit will age well in the years to come, and serve as a bridge between genres, people, race, gender, idealogies, etc... There is something very big and beautiful behind this boy from St. Louis...he deserves our admiration and respect! And Nelly will age well...he is a power package...more rap, more R & B, movies, etc...the sky is the limit. His energy and power pulled me out to the record store to buy Suit (and Sweat), and this was the first black male album I purchased since Michael Jackson's Thriller. There must be something here!!! Though I love all music, all types, all colors--I don't always buy a lot of music, but I listen to and love it all!!! So, check out the new album(s) from Nelly, whatever your backgound, preference, style, etc...he is worth a listen, and no one album will define the career of a true artist that has longevity, creativity, and talent...long live Nelly and his wonderful energy and countenance!!! He is a talented man with so much potential and a big future!!! I even painted his picture!! From--- a fellow artist (painter) and a real fan of ALL music!!! You go Nelly!!

The Suit disc is by far the more interesting disc of the two. There are only 11 songs here, but thankfully they're relatively diverse compared to those of Sweat. All except three of them are collabos, and often the collaborators steal the show, reducing Nelly to guest status on his own album. "Play It Off," a tiptop-shelf Neptunes joint boasting a great Pharrell vocal contribution, kicks off the album marvelously, and the next two tracks - "Pretty Toes" and "My Place" - are top draws also. The former is a fun Jazze Pha song toasting fly girls, and the latter is a "Dilemma" retread - where that song had aped Patti LaBelle's "Love, Need and Want You" for its hook (to much success), this one apes yet another Philly soul classic, Teddy Pendergrass' bedroom ballad "Come Go With Me" (again, to much success). Another highlight is "She Don't Know My Name," a Speakerboxxx-like Big Boi (of OutKast) production where Ron Isley and Snoop Dogg steal the show, leaving Nelly only a 45-second verse for himself. Most of the other songs have their virtues: for instance, "N Dey Say" appropriates Spandau Ballet's timeless 1983 Top Ten hit "True"; "Woodgrain and Leather Wit a Hole" is a laid-back ode to smoking and driving (hydro smoking, that is); "It's My Life" marks the return of (...drum roll, please) Mase; and "Over and Over" includes an overdubbed hook by country star Tim McGraw that works much better than it should. All of this amounts to a brief album with absolutely no filler. Granted, Nelly's rapping here is more restrained and insubstantial than ever, but when you have a cast of collaborators like this, the actual rapping is beside the point - these are fun songs, plain and simple, and wonderfully catchy to boot. This makes for a great album. Had Nelly combined the 49-minute Suit with the half-dozen highlights from Sweat, however, he'd have a really great album.

Suit is pretty decent, I think Nelly just put together an album that he knew would make him enough money to be happy for a little bit. But I respect Nelly cause he made it and he is doing what he loves so much respect from me...but Suit is way better tahn Sweat hands down...