"Ride wit Me" by Nelly feat. City Spud
Written by Cornell Haynes Jr., Lavell Webb, Jason EppersonProduced by Jason Epperson
Released on Country Grammar (June 27, 2000)
Released as single on March 10, 2001
Peaked at #3 on Billboard Hot 100
Warning: Explicit Lyrics
amazon spotify music video
When I was in college I got pulled into an argument between two of my fraternity brothers. Though I didn't know the significance of this at the time, one was from St. Louis, and the other was from California. The argument was Nelly vs. Snoop Dogg. Even today, I don't listen to much hip hop, but at that time I listened to almost none. All I knew then, was that The Chronic was maybe the greatest rap album ever released, and Snoop was a huge part of the reason why. Nelly, on the other hand, was to that point a one hit wonder, and that one hit didn't seem very good. I sided with my California friend in a way that was probably pretty condescending to my St. Louis brother.
Why would anyone try to put Nelly on that kind of level?
Have you ever had one of those moments where, all of a sudden something that had confused you earlier suddenly makes sense? The 2000 MTV Video Music Awards were one of those moments for me. Nelly was from St. Louis! I had no idea. When Nelly came out to perform, even though he wasn't wearing a shirt, the rest of his crew were wearing Cardinals, Blues, and Rams jerseys. Now that argument from a few months earlier made sense. Of course my friend from St. Louis would think that a St. Louis rapper was an all-time great.
St. Louisans will defend their own. Nelly is from St. Louis and had a hit record. Of course he's the best. Right? While that may not be something I believe, I will defend St. Louis' tradition in popular music until I die. Scott Joplin wrote his greatest ragtime melodies here. Miles Davis rose out of East St. Louis to become jazz music's most innovative and influential trumpeter and composer. Clark Terry was the first black musician to play with NBC's orchestra and the Tonight Show Band. St. Louis can make a strong case for being the birthplace of rock and roll because of the work and enduring legacies of Chuck Berry and Ike and Tina Turner. The early 2000's saw a resurgence of St. Louis talent. Nelly led the way, but the Urge, Chingy, Uncle Tupelo, and others made many a St. Louisan proud.
While most of Nelly's catalog never resonated strongly with me, "Ride wit Me" is the exception. It is smooth. It grooves. It's simply a fun song. I was not expecting it to end up in my top 100, but as I was putting this list together, other songs that I love just couldn't quite bump Nelly from this spot. Maybe it's that he's from St. Louis. Maybe I wanted to have just one more hip hop song on my list. Maybe I wanted an excuse to attempt to compare Nelly with all those other transcendently talented St. Louis musicians. Or maybe this song is just that good.
Have you ever had one of those moments where, all of a sudden something that had confused you earlier suddenly makes sense? The 2000 MTV Video Music Awards were one of those moments for me. Nelly was from St. Louis! I had no idea. When Nelly came out to perform, even though he wasn't wearing a shirt, the rest of his crew were wearing Cardinals, Blues, and Rams jerseys. Now that argument from a few months earlier made sense. Of course my friend from St. Louis would think that a St. Louis rapper was an all-time great.
St. Louisans will defend their own. Nelly is from St. Louis and had a hit record. Of course he's the best. Right? While that may not be something I believe, I will defend St. Louis' tradition in popular music until I die. Scott Joplin wrote his greatest ragtime melodies here. Miles Davis rose out of East St. Louis to become jazz music's most innovative and influential trumpeter and composer. Clark Terry was the first black musician to play with NBC's orchestra and the Tonight Show Band. St. Louis can make a strong case for being the birthplace of rock and roll because of the work and enduring legacies of Chuck Berry and Ike and Tina Turner. The early 2000's saw a resurgence of St. Louis talent. Nelly led the way, but the Urge, Chingy, Uncle Tupelo, and others made many a St. Louisan proud.
While most of Nelly's catalog never resonated strongly with me, "Ride wit Me" is the exception. It is smooth. It grooves. It's simply a fun song. I was not expecting it to end up in my top 100, but as I was putting this list together, other songs that I love just couldn't quite bump Nelly from this spot. Maybe it's that he's from St. Louis. Maybe I wanted to have just one more hip hop song on my list. Maybe I wanted an excuse to attempt to compare Nelly with all those other transcendently talented St. Louis musicians. Or maybe this song is just that good.
Right now "Ride with Me" by Nelly is (probably) my 94th favorite song of all time.
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