Nelly, speaking at the ex'Treme Institute July 3. Photograph by Elizabeth McBride
On the eve of Independence Day, nearly 100 aspiring musicians and producers packed a long, narrow hall at the ex’Treme Institute on Laclede’s Landing, waiting for an unknown visitor. After several whispers and exchanged looks of confusion, the founder of the school took the stage.
Nelly, the Grammy-winning artist who has branded himself as the rapper from St. Louis (he still lives here with his family), spoke to the institute’s first accredited class about getting heard, earning success and owning a Midwest heritage.
“Being from St. Louis is hard,” he told his wide-eyed listeners. “People think we get our deal here, but we don’t get our deal here.” The hip-hop star asked the students to shout out rumors they’d heard about how he got his start. Debunking the myths, he assured the music industry hopefuls, “I was thrown in the deep end of the pool and I was told to swim.”
The artist’s first hit single, Country Grammar, debuted in 2000. He has since worked with Destiny Child’s Kelly Rowland, Justin Timberlake, country star Tim McGraw, Janet Jackson and, most recently, Florida Georgia Line on a remix of current chart topper, Cruise. After landing hits like Ride Wit Me, Hot in Herre and Just a Dream, Nelly has further solidified his national acclaim with the release of Hey Porsche.
Refusing to abandon his roots, however, the St. Louis native established ex’Treme Institute under Vatterott College in 2011 to offer programs in recording, producing, entertainment and media business. Although he’ll begin filming season two of BET’s Real Husbands of Hollywood within the year, Nelly says he plans to visit the college once a month from now on, and to bring along a few of his friends from the hip-hop scene, too.
What were your impressions of the crowd today?
I think it went well. You know, in those types of situations, you never really understand who’s taking it to heart. You’re hoping everyone is, but as long as you’re reaching somebody, then it’s all worth it.
What do you think was the takeaway message from your lecture?
That you get out of it what you put into it. You know, that’s just the whole thing. And it wasn’t just about music. It was just life in general. Some people may use this as a stepping stone. Who knows what they’re going to be doing 10 years from now? This may lead them into some other opportunity that they may not have thought about. Some of these people will go on to be in this business and take advantage of it and continuously spread their wings. But it’s all about what you put into it.
During your speech, you talked about how living in St. Louis can be a setback for a lot of aspiring artists and musicians. Why do you think that’s the case?
Well, I wouldn’t say that it’s a setback. I’m just saying it might not happen as fast as you want it being here, because you don’t get the traffic like you would get [elsewhere]. You know, it’s hard enough when you’re trying to get the local radio to play your music so you can get noticed. But now it is a little bit easier to stay here. Now you have record companies literally [that have] people in place that just search YouTube all day for who has the most followers and on what record, and they’re looking into it. So, from that retrospect, it’s a little bit easier. But in terms of meeting and greeting and expanding what it is that you’re doing—making those connections—it’s hard to make those connections here. You can learn your craft here. You can understand music. You can do all that you want to do. But to truly understand something that’s global, you have to almost travel around so you can see other places to understand exactly what it is that you’re trying to do. A lot of these kids right now, they’re just getting the basic understanding of how to do whatever that they’re doing right now. It’s artistic, it’s expression—it’s your creativity.
What kinds of opportunities will students find here that they won’t find at another music or art school?
Well, I think we’re in a position where we can create that type of traffic, where you can have multi-platinum artists and producers coming in, talking—[students] getting a chance to work with people who really have worked in this business and dealt with the realization of it as far as, “This is how this goes. This is how this situation went.” You know, you can give those scenarios, and everybody can’t give those. Every school can’t give those.
You said you’ve made a lot of sacrifices to stay here and raise your family here. Why did you choose to make St. Louis your permanent home?
I knew if I left, the light left also. You know, as long as I stayed here and I represented this city and I let people know that I did that, then I knew that this city would always be talked about in that type of scenario. If I burnt out, they would just say, “Nelly.” They wouldn’t say, “Nelly from St. Louis.” That would be it. And you get a lot of people— artists, actors—that did have to move because of their situation. So, it’s a little rough. I was fortunate to be able to maintain here, but that was something that I wanted to do, because I still wanted people to understand what this was.
Why is it so important to have “the light” on St. Louis?
As long as that light’s shining, somebody’s going to step into it. I felt like as long as I stayed, there was a better chance of somebody else getting noticed.
Why do you think it’s important for you to visit the school and maintain a presence in the students’ education?
I think it’s very vital for them that they get to talk to somebody every so often that’s really into it so they can understand the realities of it. If you don’t understand the realities of something, then you’re kind of making up your own conclusion, and sometimes that’ll lead you down a trail of false hope. You’re hoping for something that’s not realistic when you should’ve been thinking about something else. And if I can shine a light on exactly when they can be doing, then hopefully that’s a help.
You’ve talked a lot about inspiring students. Do they inspire you?
Of course. Listen, obviously we built the school for kids to enjoy and to learn, but I’m hoping we get a chance to throw some more plaques up there. You know, “This producer went here. This singer went here. This dancer went here.” I bet in a couple of years we will have that. There’s no doubt in my mind.
What disappoints you with the way some St. Louis natives approach their dreams?
I don’t get upset about you chasing your dreams. I get upset when you call somebody else’s dream yours. That’s not really your dream. You just want that dream because you see somebody else living theirs, and now you think that’s your dream. You want the success of their dream, but you didn’t see what it took for them to get their dream rolling. You don’t want to do that part. You want to cut straight from that part, and you can’t do it. You’re going to spend more days without than you are with. Hopefully you can change that.
What are you hoping to demonstrate to the rest of the country through this school?
Talent is talent. You can sing, you can sing. You can dance, you can dance. You can rap, you can rap. What I’m saying is we have talent, too. You don’t want to be overlooked.
What is your ultimate hope for the students here?
For them to get as much out of it as possible. The facts of it [are] every kid is not going to make it. That’s in any scenario. That’s in every school. That’s in every career. That’s in every trade school, or institution, or university. Everybody’s not going to make it. And we don’t know the reasons, but that’s just life. So, you want those that actually make it to get out of it something that’s unique and special to them that they will always remember. You have to understand, we’re dealing with art. So, nobody’s really wrong. It’s just about finishing.
[What do you love about your hometown?
I just love the people. The people are my people. I mean, St. Louis is an honest city. It’s not really fake. If we like you, we love you. If we don’t, we don’t. You know, and that’s just the motto of it. I believed in Country Grammar because this city told me that this song is hot. We don’t say that often, and we have not said that and it has not worked. You know, so once they gave that OK, I knew that that was my first single and that was the single I wanted to go with.
For more, visit Nelly’s official site at nelly.net, or the ex’Treme Institute’s site at eibynelly.com.
by Elizabeth McBride and Olivia Young
