Nelly has put on for his city by helping the St. Louis Cardinals unveil their new City Connect jersey, which will see the team wear red during a regular season game for the first time in its 142-year history.
The “Hot in Herre” rapper was drafted by his hometown MLB franchise to star in a video announcement for the special edition jersey.
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The clip, which premiered on Monday (May 20), is soundtracked by Nelly’s 2000 breakout hit “Country Grammar” and features a monolog from one of The Lou’s most famous sons brimming with hometown pride.
“You know where you can find me? You can find me in the Gateway City, where we welcome you to a monumental view of our hometown,” he says.
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“Expressive, creative, innovative. A town teeming with music, surrounded by soul, generated by jazz and blues. A home for Hip Hop with rock ‘n’ roll roots. A culinary hot spot with slices squared, custard concrete and ravioli toasted.”
He continues: “A city built to brew and destined to deliver. Where aspirations stay afloat and spirit flies forever. Where the grammar is a little bit street and a little bit country. Five, of 105 degrees, we check the score of the game more than the weather. Sports-centric, with unparalleled passion.
“You know where you can find me? You can find me in St. Louis. In baseball heaven, with more rings than you can fit on two hands.”
The Cardinals’ City Connect uniform features the team’s familiar birds-on-a-baseball bat logo, but with two major twists: the jersey is red and the word “Cardinals” is replaced with “The Lou,” a nod to one of the city’s nicknames.
“We’ve never had a red jersey — even though half of the [fans] have red on, but we’ve always focused on wearing that jersey in Spring Training and batting practice,” Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III said.
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“We’ve had everything but red on the field, so for me, going red was new. This allows us to be different with something we’ve never done, but also not so radical with a color that’s not a part of the family.”
The Cardinals will wear their City Connect jerseys in a regular season game for the first time on Saturday (May 25) against their rivals, the Chicago Cubs. In total, the Redbirds will wear the uniform in 12 home games this season.
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The jerseys and accompanying clothing items — including caps and hoodies — are available to shop here.
In other Nelly news, the rap veteran recently made headlines for his unexpected reaction to the news that he and fiancée Ashanti are having a baby.
The R&B singer took to Instagram earlier this month and shared a joyful video of her revealing the news to Nelly over a FaceTime call.
The clip featured bonus behind-the-scenes footage from Ashanti’s original pregnancy reveal video, where she playfully told her mother and manager Tina Douglas that she’s “gonna need about nine months” while preparing for a show.
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Beginning six hours earlier, the video captured the “Foolish” hitmaker and her team traveling to Brooklyn for the concert, taking photos with fans and, ultimately, sharing the exciting news with Nelly.
“We pregnant!” she tells the St. Louis rapper over the phone while he’s recording in the studio.
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Rather than jumping for joy, however, Nelly stares into the camera for several moments before cracking a smile and replying: “I already knew!”
