Nelly - Brass Knuckles

Nelly - Brass Knuckles

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from the former St. Lunatic - his last work came at us in 2004 in the form of a sort of double concept album, Sweat/Suit. Both sides of this Nelly coin left charts and critics relatively cold. Nelly hasn’t been entirely inactive since then, but stillness is seen as weakness by some music heads, and they just may pounce on Nelly’s fallow period, compounded by the desperate grab that having 16 featured artists on your album.

Hype is a tricky thing. It’s sometimes a necessary tool just to get the attention of the cynical pop-rap crowd, but once you get that attention, it is imperative that you be able to back up the hype with truth. Unfortunately, while Nelly has made the clarion call that this album is going to hit hard, he doesn’t quite land the second part of the hype theorem on Brass Knuckles. He does what he does well, for the most part, tracks like the funkified “Self-Esteem” featuring with Chuck D, and the fun and flirtatious “Body On Me,” are energetic and honest. On the other hand, rough and ready grumbles like “U Ain’t Him,” come across as awkward as your high school principal trying to prove he’s “down” by dancing the funky chicken.