Prior to being a rap icon, Nelly and his childhood friends formed their Hip Hop group, St. Lunatics, in 1993. The collective consisted of the "Hot in Herre" rapper along with his pals Kyjuan, City Spud, Murphy Lee, and Ali. They had a bit of success in 1997 with their single "Gimme What Ya Got," but they struggled to build a fanbase outside of their St. Louis city limits. As the story has been shared over the years, the group allowed Nelly to move forward as a solo artist, but according to Ali, that isn't the whole story.
Yesterday (February 1), Ali kicked off the month by posting a video clip of himself with Nelly and included a lengthy post detailing why he has issues with his friend. He recognized that people would call him "childish" for airing out his business on social media, but he retorted that he's not "the type to throw a rock and hide his hand."
Ali took readers through the history of the formation of the St. Lunatics, including a claim that their label didn't want Nelly's verse on "Gimme What Ya Got" but he fought for it. He also stated that he was offered a solo record deal but instead chose to ride it out with his group, but when Mase's manager, Cudda, was introduced to the crew, he only wanted to represent Nelly and City Spud.
"They left with Cudda (went to Harlem)," wrote Ali. "The separation became The reality... They had left !!! We(The rest of the group) felt ‘HUSTLED’.... we were *1 until, The opportunity was presented to be *2 ..they hustled us!! Fast forward Universal record signs Nelly : Nelly has his manager (my bf @stltluv ).... call me and he said : 'Nelly said he doesn’t NEED YOU to help him write.'"
Ali felt slighted by Nelly because he suggested he felt used, so he took a step back and said he would no longer help Nelly pen his rhymes. "Some kind of way I ended up going ...I ended up helping him write ... but got no credit!! Wow !! I got hustled !!" he added. "You live and you learn." Nelly has yet to respond to his friend's accusations, but while fans wait, you can check out Ali's post below.