On Sunday night (Nov. 22), Nelly delivered a rousing medley at the 2020 American Music Awards in Los Angeles.
Tipping his hat off to his 2000 hip-hop opus Country Grammar, Nelly dished out various singles alongside his St. Lunatic compatriot City Spud. First, he gave fans a healthy helping of “Country Grammar” before dipping into “E.I.” and his singsong anthem “Ride With Me.”
This year marks the 20th anniversary of his debut album Country Grammar. The diamond-selling album spawned a bevy of Billboard Hot 100 hits and propelled Nelly into rap superstardom. In an interview with Billboard last month, Nelly explained why he must maintain his hip-hop lifestyle despite collaborating in other genres.
“I live a hip-hop life. When you get certain artists that don’t live the hip-hop life and all of a sudden they wanna do a hip-hop album, I look at that like a little bit of a, ‘Nah, c’mon, ya’ll,’” he shared. “You can be hip-hop influenced, your song can be hip-hop influenced, your album can be hip-hop influenced, but you’re not a hip-hop artist. And I’m not a country artist, so I don’t want to disrespect all those that work hard that live the country life.”
The American Music Awards are produced by dick clark productions, which is owned by MRC Entertainment, the parent company of Billboard.
