Like a finely-crafted automobile, Nelly is taking the necessary steps to ensure that his new album is ready for the road. He’s assembled today’s hottest producers, a fleet of high-profile guests, and polishing it all off with a fall release date.
Universal Motown will unveil the St. Louis rapper’s sixth studio album 5.0 on November 16. The club jam “Tippin’ in da Club,” produced by Dutch, sets the tone for the high-octane record. The song has already gone to urban radio, while the second single “Just a Dream” has been serviced to Top 40 stations. The latter was produced by Jim Jonsin and Rico Love.
“It’s a lot of things,” Nelly told Rap-Up about the album title’s significance. “It’s also my fifth drop date. It’s just the energy of it all. [The Mustang] 5.0 was always one of my dream cars. As soon as I had enough money to buy one of these mothaf***ers, they stopped making these shits.”
The follow-up to 2008’s Brass Knuckles is set to feature production from Dr. Luke, Polow Da Don, Don Vito, and Smash Factory, and guest spots from T.I., Akon, Diddy, and Kelly Rowland on “Gone,” the sequel to their 2002 smash “Dilemma.”
But he’s not trying to repeat history with his latest collaboration.
“Let’s be honest, we can’t do ‘Dilemma’ over again. That’s etched in time,” he said. “It is what it is; that song was for that point in time.”