REVIEW Nelly's show inspires talent in the Valley
Nelly and Murphy Lee went overboard in plugging Lee's new CD.
By DEBORA SHAULIS
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
NILES -- About 5,000 people went to Nelly's concert Monday night at Cafaro Field to shake their tail feathers. Derrick McDowell and Jahi Harvey were there to be inspired.
The Youngstown duo has papered nearly every telephone pole in the city with their "Need Beats" flyers.
McDowell, 23, and Harvey, 25, are artists and rap producers who want to produce and promote their own events throughout the area. Having Nelly, a hip-hop heavyweight, perform in their back yard was just the boost they needed.
For Harvey, it's great that artists realize "cities like Youngstown ... are packed with a lot of people that appreciate their music," he said.
As for home-grown talent, Nelly's presence "just goes to show that ... if you work hard at anything, you can still reach your dreams," Harvey added, noting that Nelly's hometown of St. Louis has a blue-collar background similar to the Mahoning Valley's.
McDowell was impressed by the multigenerational, multiracial crowd that gathered to party, not brawl. He hopes he and Harvey can offer more entertainment that crosses boundaries, he said.
True, this concert didn't bring out the violent tendencies that some people associate with hip-hop music. It brought out typical concert behavior.
Audience reaction
There were ageless moments, as young and old alike did some derriere wiggling while Nelly performed "Shake Ya Tailfeather," the No. 5 song on Billboard magazine's rap singles chart that he shares with P. Diddy and one of his St. Lunatics band mates, Murphy Lee.
A young woman got her 1.5 seconds of fame by exposing her breasts to a camera operator who was feeding images to a pair of video screens. It was a tasteless and yet sadly typical moment at many concerts today.
There were shameless moments, too, as Lee promoted his solo CD that will drop next month. One or two plugs, in addition to the advertisement on the back of his blue, oversize T-shirt, would have been enough, but it was mentioned at least a dozen times.
Annoying as that was, it also was evidence of the bond between Nelly and his cohorts. If there's one thing they have going for them onstage, it's their rapport. They always stayed in sync with each other, bantering between songs and pumping up the crowd.
Catchy beats
Nelly, who sounded a little huskier than usual in the show's opening songs, also specializes in catchy beats, such as the stomp behind his ode to preferred footwear, "Air Force Ones," and the clap-happy rap that started it all for him, "Country Grammar." From his mouth, the lyrics fly as fast as NASCAR racers nearing the finish line.
It didn't matter that Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child, Nelly's duet partner on the song "Dilemma," wasn't at Cafaro Field. Nelly turned over her lines -- including "Nelly, I love you, Nelly I need you" -- to the audience before ending his 65-minute performance.
Nelly was preceded by two opening acts. Both the trio called Heat and new artist Calvin Richardson sang as opposed to rapping.
Both openers were quite mellow for a Nelly concert, although the muscular Richardson's more classic R & amp;B sound and live instrumentation is worth another listen. His new album, "2:35 PM," will be released Sept. 16 by Hollywood Records. Got that, Murphy Lee?
shaulis@vindy.com