Nelly was on top of the world, in 2002. Following the breakout success of Country Grammar, he took a year off. Before people could ask where Nelly was, he returned. In 2002, he was bigger and better than ever. The year of 2002 was huge for several artists. That year was dominated by Ja Rule, who assisted the likes of Fat Joe, Jennifer Lopez, Mary J. Blige, and Ashanti to having major hits. In terms of sales, Eminem was the man, while Jay-Z also had success. Meanwhile, Styles P, Cam’ron, and N.O.R.E. all posted the biggest hits of their career.
Nelly returned with “Hot In Herre,” which was the anthem of the summer. While that song carried fans for most of the summer, they wanted more. So, Nelly went back in the lab and he returned with his follow up single. When he released “Dilemma,” Nelly went outside of the box. He reached out to Kelly Rowland for the record. At the time, Kelly was best known for Destiny’s Child. With Beyonce being the star of the group, most would assume Nelly would have reached out to her. Instead, he went with Kelly, giving the media tons of chances to say “Nelly and Kelly.”
Nelly went all out with the music video. Not only was the video shot on the future set of “Desperate Housewives,” but he had Patti LaBelle playing Kelly’s mom in the video. In addition, fellow St. Louis native, Larry Hughes, was in the video. At the time, Hughes played for the Golden State Warriors. Most recently, he played for the Charlotte Bobcats. He helped them make their first ever playoff appearance, last year. In honor of Valentine’s Day, Hip Hop Vibe is giving the spotlight to Nelly for “Dilemma,” his classic single with Kelly Rowland.
