Anyone who remembers the early millennium rap game will likely take no pleasure in the fractured dynamic that seems to be plaguing the St. Lunatics right now. In case you missed it, Nelly and Ali have been engaging in a public dispute, one that seems to center around the history of the group's brief but impactful history. While it doesn't appear that the pair are close to finding any common ground, all this talk of the Lunatics has been enough to spark a wave of nostalgia for their 2001 album Free City, a project that came hot on the heels of Nelly's enduring classic Country Grammar.
Though Nelly, Ali, Kyjuan, Murphy Lee, and City Spud's crew were heavily present on Country Grammar, their debut album took their already established chemistry and explored it even further. Nowhere was that more evident than on the project's opening track "STL," an anthem that found the group snapping over some Jay E production. With each member boasting a different style, from Murphy Lee's schoolboy charm to Ali's more dexterous rhyming habits, the track feels like a proper introduction to the Lunatics' dynamic. Though the group may have suffered a less than favorable end, it's still worth revisiting Free City now and again, especially if you're a fan of Nelly's Country Grammar vibe.
QUOTABLE LYRICS
Used to ball on the blacktop now I balls on hardwood
With enough financial stability to finance a small hood
Call it Nellyville ni*ga, and guess who the mayor
My whole towns chronic'd out so we drug aware
I'm playin truth or dare with dime pieces, and they nieces
Showin me there's more than one way that they can eat a Reeses