Nelly has responded to accusations from former St. Lunatic Slo Down that he was not fairly compensated for his contributions to the group.
Slo Down, who before being dismissed served as the group’s masked mascot, appeared on Worldstarhiphop.com last month and claimed the group never adequately paid him for his work. According to Slo Down, he was relegated to just “snackin’” while other group members were “eatin’,” despite his belief that his efforts shaped the public image and presentation of the group. The video was rumored to be shot by long-time Nelly critic and fellow St. Louis native DJ Bishop, who has also recently engaged in a war of words with the Grammy-winning rapper.
In the below clip, Nelly chastises Slo Down for having no work ethic, and using his position as an excuse to depend on others instead of an “opportunity” to expand his career. In addition to stating Slo Down made $500,000 during his tenure with them, Nelly pointed out the former mascot never contributed any music or reinvested his earnings back into group projects.
“You didn’t even sell the mask!” said an incredulous Nelly told Music Choice. “That would’ve been the first thing I would be trying to do…We did something to you? We took care of you…Had that been me, oh I’d be on tour right now. It would’ve been the Slo Nelly Tour. I’d of figured out something.”
At press time, Nelly’s sixth studio album Nelly 5.0 is due out November 16.
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I have to side with Nelly wholeheartedly on this one. In a group environment, the money is being split up between each member. When you slice is being cut into, you want to make sure that every one that’s getting a cut is pulling their weight. Those who aren’t become a liability, and that’s exactly what happened to Slo Down.
Not coming to the studio sessions was a bad idea. It seems like Slo was just content with his spot and not interested in evolving. I’m sure if he had shown any interest beyond his position (looking into management, promotion etc), Nelly would’ve been more than happy to pass on some of his connections.
A good old school example of this is beatboxer Ready Rock C, who was the third member down with DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. His primary skill was beatboxing, and he found himself an odd man out by 1990 when that talent had lost its commercial viability. Without being able to rhyme or provide other services, Jeff and Fresh Prince couldn’t justify keeping him in the group.
Even in the regular 9-5 grind, the more versatile you are, the more irreplaceable you become to a company. And that prevents you from getting the ax when layoffs or cuts come. In Slo Down’s case, he made their decision easy.
I hope he saved some of that dough.
