A Look Back at Nelly’s Style and Wardrobe
Nelly was undoubtfully one of the biggest rap stars of the 2000s. Along with Bone Thugs, Missy Elliott and Lauryn Hill, Nelly was a pioneer of both singing and rapping. One aspect of his impact that is understated was Nelly's prevailing influence on black fashion.
Cornell Haynes Jr. is no ordinary rapper. Known better by his stage name Nelly, he dominated the charts in the mid to early 2000s like no other. Nelly had the club shouting loud with his earworm ‘Hot in Herre’ and guys simping to his duet with Kelly Rowland ‘Dilemma’.
Nelly’s debut album ‘Country Grammar’ released in 2000 is also one of the ten rap albums to achieve a diamond certificate in the US. For a diamond certification, a record must sell over ten million units domestically.
Aside from Nelly’s music and massive commercial appeal, he is also best remembered for his zany sense of style.
From the outset, Nelly’s style was eye-catching in photoshoots, red carpets and music videos. The rapper often donned a rainbow-like assortment of; durags, headbands, baseball caps and basketball jerseys over white tees.
Nelly’s fashion is often seen as the embodiment of the is urban fashion landscape in the 2000s. His matching sportswear and high fashion mix have seen a resurgence in the past few years on the vintage fashion market.
To accompany Nelly’s colourful wardrobe, he also famously rocked his now-signature plaster on his cheek. In terms of jewellery, Nelly often sported a large platinum chains ranging from a spell out of his name to the number one iced out in diamonds.
Nelly’s most celebrated style contribution was his re-popularisation of the Nike Air Force 1 sneaker. While the Air Force 1 is a wardrobe staple for many today, back in the early 2000s, the shoe was on a downward spiral in terms of popularity.
For Nelly’s sophomore album ‘Nellyville’ released in 2002, he remapped the AF1 with his song of the same name.
The music video for the song saw Nelly and his rap crew, the St. Lunatics in a sneaker store bragging about their collection of AF1 sneakers. While Nike didn’t officially sign Nelly, he did receive a handsome check from Nike for endorsing the shoe.
From Nelly’s animated personality to his timely sense of style, it is easy to see why he was a fashion trailblazer. His influence on black male fashion is not too dissimilar to that of a Travis Scott, Pharrell or A$AP Rocky.
Nelly was manufacturing action figures of himself and telling the masses what the hottest shoes were long before the social media boom. For that, Nelly deserves his flowers.
Stream Nelly on Spotify and Apple Music here.
