Nelly‘s recent concert at the University of Florida is going viral for all the wrong reasons.
The show organized by the school’s student government went down last Tuesday (April 9), with free entry granted to any student with a school ID. Unfortunately it seems as though not many people showed up, as a frequently-reposted video from the event shows some attendees near the stage but mostly vacant house seats for the hour-long performance.
According to local Florida publication WUFT, the show was delayed an hour because of the low turnout, but the Country Grammar rapper eventually took the stage at 8pm and performed his full set with his brother (and hype man) City Spud by his side.
The publication noted that by the time the show finally started, there was “a larger crowd” on the floor but, as can be seen in the Tik Tok below, “the arena seats were mostly empty.”
It seems as though not many students were very familiar with him, as the publication spoke to a few attendees who merely went because it was a free show.
“I like concerts a lot and I write a list of people I’ve seen live, so why not add another,” one person told them, while they spoke to another who “originally did not know who Nelly was, but once her friend explained, she was excited to attend.”
The age range for college students is 18 to around 22, so many of them weren’t even born when Nelly was in his prime in the early 2000s.
Check the full concert, and the viral video of the show, below.
@barstoolsports Whole arena open for Nelly 😭 @Million Dollaz ♬ original sound – Barstool Sports
Regardless whether UF students think so, Nelly recently claimed that the era of Hip Hop he emerged remains the “toughest ever” — by one metric, at least.
During an appearance on LeBron James‘ The Shop, the St. Louis rap legend reflected on his breakthrough success in the 2000s and the challenges he faced in trying to stand out in a crowded marketplace full of bona fide stars.
Discussing the Grammys’ hit-and-miss success when it comes to awarding rappers, he said: “Country Grammar sold five million and I didn’t even get nominated as Best New Artist! Because my album came out in 2000 so I wasn’t even on the ballot. In 2001, the great, talented, well-deserving Miss Alicia Keys won — and she should have won.”
He then admitted that he had a chip on his shoulder coming from St. Louis when bigger cities like New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta were dominating Hip Hop at the time.
“You gotta understand, my era of music was the toughest era in Hip Hop ever. Ever!” he declared. “When I put out songs, I had to go against DMX, JAY-Z, Eminem, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Luda. All of us are fighting for one spot! So from ’99 to 2008-2010, it’s the hardest era ever to get records.”
Stay out of the game and don’t give people consistent hits, this is what happens. No one cares about what you did, it’s about what you’re doing.
Incorrect.
Actually it’s because Florida is a redneck school. Bringing a rapper to Gainesville is a terrible decision. They needed to bring a country singer to the swamp.
Eh, any excuse you want… but Nelly is something millennial remember. Gen Z didn’t grow up with Nelly, and pop rap doesn’t stay popular over time. I haven’t heard a Nelly song in at least a decade. And it was the women who liked it most. Men weren’t really into it.
i thought nelly was nice but he was mean to huey and chingy
just a poorly promoted show that’s all. no reason college kids wouldn’t like a Nelly show even if he’s older now. It’s good time music goes great with beer and smoke. but that ‘s the life of the touring artiste. maybe stick to casinos for a minute
Very rare this happens, for the most part Nelly shows are packed with crowds of like 8-9-10k people. Something went wrong with the promotions. When you put on a show you have to promote it weeks or months in advance. Use radio, social media promo. People show up to Nelly shows this is a very rare occurrence that happens. But also big up to Nelly for rocking out regardless and not acting like most of the artist act. Most would have not come out or would have left after a few songs.
Drake has hustle throughout. Nelly lost his when he sold out his crew in favor of working with white artists like fergie and Florida Georgia line
He forgot his bandaid, thats why!
Well, he was popular when most of these kids were still in their dads nutsack, so it’s not shocking a bunch of 19 year olds don’t have a clue who the fuck Nelly is.
They couldn’t have promoted this well. I live in Gainesville and work at Shands and I would have bought tickets to see Nelly had I known about it.
I hope you’re a woman… or a gay man would make sense I guess…
Nelly isn’t their era.
Lil Yachty would likely draw a larger crowd. That says more about the students than it does Nelly.
Nelly did his thing 🔥 Great Performance Should had been Promoted in a better way. 😊
My a$$ world have been FRONT ROW AND CENTER!
I love Nelly’s shows.. So I also believe it was poorly promoted!Hell, my kids are in the late teens- early twenties and they LOVE Nelly. Yea, I may be a Gen X’er, but that era has the best music. If a crowd of 20-30 tends can rock angra bop heads to the Gen X era now, they know what good music is. MY OPINION. This generation of music, it’s okay. But there should have been no reason why this concert was this empty.
I’m from G-ville and heard about this AFTERWARDS. This was just a poorly promoted concert. First, it wasn’t circulated well, it was only open to student, and most current students, at UF mind you, are not familiar with Nelly. Now, if this was widely circulated on the radio and commercials with clips of his music, it would have drawn in more of a crowd because the current college student may be more familiar with his music but not his name. The size of this crowd should not be a reflection on Nelly’s artistry.