NEWS
Nelly has been sued by his former group the St. Lunatics over what they claim is uncredited work on his Country Grammar album.
The group, consisting of Ali Jones (Ali), Torhi Harper (Murphy Lee), Robert Kyjuan (Kyjuan) and Nelly’s brother Lavell Webb (City Spud), filed the copyright infringement suit against Nelly on Wednesday (September 18).
The claim, which was made in New York Federal Court, asserts that the superstar didn’t credit them for their work on his 2000 album.
The claim revolves around their publishing and writing on the album.
This isn’t the first time St. Lunatics have spoken out against Nelly’s alleged impropriety regarding their artistic contributions to their work.
In 2023, Ali vowed he’d never perform with Nelly ever again because of money he owed the band.
Ali Jones sat down with VladTV for an interview in August of that year and opened up about Nelly allegedly going for months at a time without paying him what he was owed.
“I’ll say like it could be $90,000 or $70,000,” he estimated. “When that conversation happens I’ll get a check. It’ll be $13,000. Now you’ll be fucked up now because what is this $13,000 for? You owe me $91,000.”
He concluded: “What did you pay me for? At the end of it, it’s gonna be $66,000 because he’s far behind on the payments.”
The St. Louis native blasted Nelly for the lack of communication on his end and then blamed an outsider for trying to divide Nelly from the group.
Ali went on to declare that he’s “never” going to reunite with Nelly or hit the stage to perform with him again in the future.
“A tiger ain’t never gon’ change his stripes,” he said. “I watched it for 20 years and I’m the butt of the joke because it took me 20 years to realize it. I could put a never, ever behind it will I ever hit the stage or do anything with him.”
He added: “He has no real raw good intentions for others. Not for us and we’ve all sat together and searched hard to try to find a time that didn’t benefit him. He got $50 million, I’m happy for him. That’s what he wants. He wants a billion.”
The $50 million Ali was referencing is the reported figure Nelly was paid for selling half of his music catalog back in June. The deal included eight albums spanning a string of hits, a lot of which played a crucial role in elevating 21st-century Hip Hop and R&B.
NEWS
During a recent appearance on The Leona Graham Podcast, Embrace frontman Danny McNamara looked back on the unusual story behind the band's 2004 single "Gravity," a song that was ultimately handed over to them by Coldplay singer Chris Martin.
"The Gravity story, it all starts on Angelina Jolie's spaceship," McNamara explained. The memorable moment happened around two decades ago in the parking area of a major film studio just outside London. Coldplay had been visiting the set of the sci fi adventure film The Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow when the two musicians found themselves sitting atop a giant replica spacecraft. "Me and Chris from Coldplay, we were sat on this huge mock-up of a spaceship... about the size of about five double-decker buses. It was like gold and green and red, and we were sat on it in the car park in the midday sun playing each other songs on an acoustic guitar."
After McNamara played Martin a new Embrace song called "Ashes," the Coldplay frontman returned the favour by sharing a track that had not yet been released. "He played me 'Gravity.' And I just thought, 'Wow, that's like an amazing song.' It's up there with like 'Fix You' or 'The Scientist.' For me, it's like one of the best ballads they've ever written."
Some time later, McNamara received a surprise phone call from Martin late one evening. Gwyneth Paltrow, who was married to the singer at the time, could be heard encouraging him in the background. "Gwyneth was in the background saying, 'Go on, ask him. Ask him.' So anyway, he says, 'You know Gravity?' And I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Do you want it?'"
At first, McNamara was reluctant to accept the offer because he worried the attention surrounding Martin's involvement might take focus away from Embrace's comeback album, Out of Nothing. "My thought was like, 'I don't want this to be overshadowed by Chris offering us this song,' so initially I was sort of thinking no. But then I thought, 'Hang on a minute. He's the biggest rock star in the world. What are you doing?'" Curious about why Martin was willing to part with the song, he asked him directly and was told, "Well, I think it sounds too much like Embrace for us to use."
The experience only strengthened the admiration McNamara has held for Martin over the years. Rejecting the common perception that the Coldplay star is predictable or ordinary, he described him as one of the most captivating people he has ever encountered. "That guy is one of the most interesting, charismatic and fun to be around people I've ever met, if not the most," McNamara stated. "I've met a lot of people in my life, a lot of people even more famous than him, and he is far and away the most interesting person. Whenever he's there, I just stand back and just like let him shine. I love him to bits."
