Nelly Performs For Near-Empty Stadium, But Some Fans Claim It Wasn't An Actual Concert

BYGabriel Bras Nevares96.5K Views
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BRELAND Hosts 3rd Annual "BRELAND & Friends" Benefit for Oasis Center at Ryman Auditorium
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - MARCH 26: Nelly performs onstage for the 3rd Annual "BRELAND & Friends" benefit for the Oasis Center at Ryman Auditorium on March 26, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for BRELAND & Friends)
Some folks didn't want to jump to conclusions.

If you take a look at the Instagram clip below, you'll see Nelly performing for a small crowd in the general admission area, but for a virtually empty stadium. While a lot of folks are running with the narrative that Ashanti's boo just failed to sell barely any tickets to his show, some folks in the comments of the post below pointed out that this might be a soundcheck. "I hate when people try to embarrass people. That clearly looks like a sound check to me," one fan wrote, whereas The Game, of all people, had another way of looking at this.

"Nothing to see here," the rapper wrote in the comments section of the IG post below. "He got paid probably 60-100K to perform even if it was only one person there. Sometimes promoters drop the ball on promoting shows so it’s not on bruh. Enjoy ya Sunday." Whether or not you think this is an actual performance or a prelude to it, folks are certainly far too quick to criticize celebrities when they don't meet the grand standards that they, and fans, set for themselves. Either that or they have fun with pregnancy rumors, and Nelly is no stranger to either.

Is This Nelly Clip A Concert Or A Soundcheck? See Comments For Reactions

Furthermore, we wonder if this would've been a big issue back in the St. Louis MC's heyday, a hip-hop era which he believes was the hardest to come up in. "Country Grammar was 5 million and I didn’t even get nominated as a Best New Artist because my album came out in 2000," Nelly told The Shop. "So I wasn’t even on the ballot in 2001. The great, talented, well-deserving Alicia Keys won, and she should’ve won in 2001.

"You gotta understand, my era of music was the toughest era in hip-hop ever!" he continued. "When I put out songs, I had to go against DMX, Jay-Z, Eminem, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, and Ludacris. All of us are fighting for one spot. So from '99 to 2008, 2010, it was the hardest era ever." For more news and the latest updates on Nelly, stick around on HNHH.

About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case. Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.
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