When Nelly entered the rap game spitting “Down, down baby … Shimmy, Shimmy cocoa pop” rhymes, staunch Hip Hop heads experienced convulsions thinking the future St. Louis legend was turning the culture into Mother Goose.
Fast forward 15 years: Nelly’s Country Grammar debut album is diamond certified and Drake is sitting comfortably on top of the rap game (and most of R&B as well) facing the same type of critiques.
For no good reason (which is generally a good reason when it comes to social media), Twitter users feverishly engaged in a Drake Vs. Nelly debate. The overarching argument got muddled between “bigger artist” and “better rapper” but there were still some very entertaining viewpoints shared nonetheless.
Take a look at some of the best ones below and give us your take in the comment section.
If we wanna talk about what Drake would've been in Nelly's era, be real, he would've been run out the game when those ref tracks surfaced.
— Craig Bro Dude (@CraigSJ) January 17, 2017
It’s really hard to argue that…
Nelly was poppin like crazy. In fact, I'm 1 of the few who believe he can still drop a hit. But Drake's dominance is never ending right now.
— Navjosh / HHNM (@Navjosh) January 17, 2017
Drake just had the highest grossing rap tour ever and we really debating if at any point Nelly was hotter than he is?
Go on
— Keith Nelson Jr (@JusAire) January 17, 2017
The Internet has opened to floodgates to neverending popularity.
Nostalgia be lying to the people, yo. And these are the same people who HATED Nelly when he was poppin' lol https://t.co/0sKsn64PQ0
— TC (@ItsMeTC15) January 17, 2017
I hope those saying Nelly was bigger than Drake are trolling
— ? (@TheyCallMeAzul) January 17, 2017
They’re not.
Nelly is like the A.I. of music and Drake is Curry
— nuzesy (@AyoCrak) January 17, 2017
Nelly's "Tip Drill" >>>>>>> Drake's entire discography
— J'onn J'onzz ?? (@MustyKony) January 17, 2017
Sounds a bit far-fetched but if we’re talking music videos…
nelly swiped credit cards in the moist crevices of strippers cake and drake cries in strippers cake
you choose
— 40 (@tweetlike40oz) January 17, 2017
Nelly was bigger than drake https://t.co/MjtM3SfKon
— Trill Withers (@TylerIAm) January 17, 2017
Drake wouldn’t have done anywhere near as well in Nelly’s era. It was a much different time.
— KB (@MindOfKB) January 17, 2017
Nelly flap yo wings >>>>>>>>> anything drake made
— Treasurer Of Canon (@TheDouch3) January 17, 2017
Umm…how about no.
Nelly sold a lot of damn records but the world didn't stop when he dropped something like it does with Drake
— WhoisPavy.com (@Scott_CEOofSUH) January 17, 2017
Nelly > Drake. You smoking the purest rock cocaine if you disagree
— A Spike Lee Joint (@ImNoRoleModel) January 17, 2017
lemme know when Drake shift the culture the way Nelly has. https://t.co/wsIblbyyDA
— daddy rob (@BeardedNubian) January 17, 2017
Nelly in his prime was better than Drake but Drake is obviously bigger lol
— Jerm on Ice (@FaithfulMantis) January 17, 2017
That’s a sound way to look at … an opinion.
twitter real live debating drake vs nelly pic.twitter.com/JQ6zo3Bx76
— Rick Sanchez (@biggthrill804) January 17, 2017
