Country Grammar would go on to be certified Platinum nine times over by the RIAA. Those four songs? “Country Grammar,” “E.I.,” “Ride Wit Me,” and “Batter Up”-in other words, the first four singles he put out once he landed the deal with Universal. Though fans outside the Midwest might have felt that Nelly came out of nowhere around the turn of the century, he had been shopping a four-song demo to labels since early 1999. What’s surprising is that it took so long to reach the public. That “Ride Wit Me” was destined to be a hit is obvious: from the guitar that serves as an entry point to all radio formats to the half-dozen different hooks, the song could cut through the din in pretty much any era of hip-hop. But Nelly also raps, “Making a living off my brain, instead of now/ I got the title from my mama, put the whip in my own name now/ Damn, shit done changed now/ Running credit checks with no shame now.” The last line was disarming at the time post-recession, maybe it’s the most aspirational of all. There are Range Rovers and ’64 Impalas, sure-and blinding chains, Cristal, first class seats purchased in cash. “Ride Wit Me” is interesting for how it treats money, namely that it marries the outlandish, aspirational excess of the Bad Boy Records era in the late 1990s to more attainable goals.
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