Nelly gives knucks

Nelly

ALBUM: “Brass Knuckles”

LABEL: Derrty Entertainment

When Nelly , sporting that recognizable Band-Aid on his right cheek, sauntered onto the scene holding his crotch in 2000 with “Country Grammar,” he blew the rap scene out of the water with original beats, a fresh-to-death attitude and surprising bridges that pleaded for another listen.

Maybe it's the nostalgia for 2000 talking, but Nelly's since lost that Band-Aid, and it seemed like his ingenuity was tossed in the garbage with it. His dual album releases, “Suit” and “Sweat” in 2004, topped the charts but offered no singles matching the originality and charm of his previous work.

Four years and a few mediocre collaborations later, Nelly's decided to try again. His album “Brass Knuckles” premiered on Tuesday and the St. Louis rapper has pulled from all of his resources. The album features several huge rap and R&B names: Snoop Dogg, T.I., Akon, Ashanti, LL Cool J, Janet and Ciara — and that isn't even half of the studs and starlets packed onto this album.

Judging solely by the album's first official single, “Party People” (featuring Fergie) , Nelly’s comeback seems unlikely. Fergie's groaning chorus and pseudo-rapping destroys any attitude that Nelly boasts by shouting, “Watchin’ these suckers are mimickin, gimmickin / Then they start fallin off one a time.”

A look at the full album reveals something different. Nelly's producers (especially Polow da Don ) pitch a nearly perfect game. Nelly hits hard with the songs that integrate R&B and rap like “Body on Me” with Ashanti and Akon doing what they do best: Adding a sliding chorus and strong finale.

“Long Night” (featuring Usher) is the type of smooth ballad where Nelly usually swings and misses (remember the Tim McGraw collaborative fiasco “Over and Over Again” ?). The song is a refreshing twist of Usher's soulful harmonies, a bare snare beat and synthesizer scales.

There are, of course, tracks where Nelly feels the need to turn his hardcore switch on and remind us that he came from streets a lot less beautiful than Rodeo Drive.

“U Ain't Him” (featuring Rick Ross) and “LA” (with Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg) manage to keep one listening even though it might be a little far-fetched to call them relatable.

Aside from “Let it Go, Lil Mama” (starring Pharrell) — which conjures a few painful moans due to overused turntables and a choppy chorus — “Brass Knuckles” offers a new tang we haven't tasted from the rap community in a while.

The track list makes us wonder if we're slamming to Nelly's hollering attitude or maybe just humming along with whoever he's featuring, but when the album’s playing it stops mattering if we're enjoying Nelly or not, because almost every song on the album has something exhilarating to offer our dancing shoes, whether they be Air Jordans or Doc Martens.

Even though “Brass Knuckles” makes a Fergalicious misstep or two, we can take it straight from the mouth of Nelly himself, “What does it take to be No. 1? Two is not a winner and three nobody remembers...” Nelly is still No.1.