Music Album: 5.0 by Nelly

I was not a fan of Brass Knuckles, except maybe three or four songs. It was Nelly's weakest album, I think he tried too hard to put up the grimey hip hop persona, when what people love is his sweet, mid-western attitude that he brings with his music. Nelly is one of the biggest successes in the hip-hop industry with over 35 million albums sold and having the most number one singles by any hip-hop artist, we cannot talk about hip-hop in the 21st century without his name coming up, whether he sings on his records or not. The east coast have Jay-Z, the west coast have Snoop Dogg, Lil' Wayne and T.I rep down south but Nelly owns the mid-west. With the new album 5.0, I am glad he brought back the personality that made the music industry adore him.

With a host of notable features, Nelly has produced a lukewarm enjoyable listening experience. Gone, which features Kelly Rowland possesses the same chemistry that made their smash hit, Dilemma the international success that it was, Nelly and Kelly take turns in singing to each other about the mutual love and adoration they have for each other, a very sensual slow-tempo song to listen to when you are chilling with your partner. The albums first single and Nelly's 5th number one, Just a Dream is very reminiscent of his Suit album, the melody and simplicity of the song is what makes it so relatable and successful. Nothing Without Her and Making Movies follow the same route as Gone and Just a Dream, showing that Nelly is not a gangster rapper and even a man with a hip hop persona can be sensitive and emotional.

He however does not fail to reveal that he has songs for the club in him. He trades verses with Diddy on the B.I.G-sampled 1000 Stacks and delivers a cocky line on Broke "multiply the money, add the bitches and subtract the haters". Move That Body will surely have the clubs jumping with an infectious hook and all three guys taking time to deliver. She's so Fly will also have the clubs jumping but in a feel good kind of way. There are some songs on the album that should have been cut. Liv Tonight (featuring Keri Hilson) sounds like something he should have sold to Flo-Rida and Long Gone (featuring Chris Brown) is comfortably an album filler that should be skipped.

Compared to what his last album sounded like, I think this is a huge improvement and if it was 2002, I would be expecting huge sales for this album but in the music atomsphere right now, it will be interesting to know how this album will fare on the charts. 5.0 definitely does not match the magnificence of Country Grammar, Nellyville, Sweat or Suit but it is worth listening to because of some of the tracks named above.