Nelly performed some of his most popular songs at President Donald Trump’s inaugural ball.
But there was one hit track that he did not sing.
Kelly Rowland Was ‘Stunned’ About Nelly’s Decision
And it had everything to do with Kelly Rowland.
Nelly’s decision to perform at the president’s inauguration was considered pretty controversial by a lot of people.
He received a lot of backlash.
And there were many people who couldn’t understand why he’d chosen to do it – including Kelly herself.
According to a Daily Mail insider, she was completely blindsided by Nelly’s choice.
The source said: “She was stunned when she learned that Nelly was to perform and informed his camp that he does not have her consent to perform the song.”
A few months ago, Kelly joined her friend Beyonce on stage at a Kamala Harris campaign rally in Houston, where they both grew up.
So, the last thing that she wanted was for one of her songs to be played at the inauguration of the presidential candidate that Kamala lost to.
The insider claimed that Kelly informed Nelly’s camp that he did not have her consent to perform their song Dilemma.
Her team was allegedly prepared to issue a takedown notice if he defied her order.
Wide Open Country said that blocking Nelly from performing one of his biggest tracks at the inauguration was a real statement.
Why Fans Are Disappointed At Nelly
Online users have been pretty vocal about how disappointed they were in Nelly.
A YouTube user wrote that Nelly made his decision, which he had a right to do, just like they did, too.
And their decision was to no longer support Nelly in any aspect, music or otherwise.
Nelly Explains Decision To Perform At Donald Trump’s Inauguration Ball
After facing a ton of criticism, Nelly explained why he chose to perform during an interview he had with rapper Willie D.
According to a HipHopDx report, he made the claim that people tend to sometimes have a quick response to something that, on the surface, may seem messed up because they don’t agree.
He insisted that he was not political.
He was not trying to tell anyone who they should vote for.
Nelly admitted that he was ‘clueless on a lot of things’ when it got down to it, so he suggested that people did their homework and made their own decisions.
Later on in his interview, the rapper said that he wasn’t doing it for money, but because he felt that it was an honor.
He compared performing for the president to the service that U.S. soldiers did.
Nelly reasoned: “Just like our men and women, our brothers and sisters who protect this country have to go to war and put their lives on the line for whoever is in office.”
He argued that if soldiers can risk their lives for the president, then he could perform for whoever was in the White House.
Nelly Defends President Donald Trump
When the subject of how some people believe that Donald Trump is a white supremacist came up, Nelly defended him.
He asked if people weren’t allowed to change.
Nelly also recognized that the president has flaws, which was why he didn’t tell people who to vote for.
But he argued that Donald Trump won, so for him, there was no politics involved anymore – he was just serving his president.
Social Media Users Claim Nelly Is ‘Tone Deaf’
His reasoning did not sit well with a lot of online users, though.
A report by Sportskeeda revealed that one Instagram user commented that Nelly’s response was tone deaf and made the issue worse.
Another wrote that if a person stood for nothing, they would fall for anything.
A third user argued: “The military doesn’t go to war for ‘whoever’ is in office… they go for the country.”
They went on to claim that Donald Trump didn’t even hold the title of president with dignity and respect, and they told Nelly to ‘save it.’
Nelly Said Donald Trump ‘Surprises Me As A President’
It’s also been pointed out that Nelly hasn’t always shown Donald Trump the same kind of respect that he is showing now.
In a Page Six interview from 2017, he shared that he used to like Donald Trump, but he just didn’t like him as his president.
Nelly explained: “He doesn’t surprise me as a person, he surprises me as a president because you don’t expect certain things, certain attitudes.”
He also claimed that he wouldn’t be staying at his famous hotels while he was on tour that year.
How Nelly’s Decision Affected Ashanti
One of the Daily Mail’s sources alleged that Nelly wasn’t worried about the backlash he’d gotten because he was expecting to make more money from his performance than he had made from his music sales in recent years.
However, the insider mentioned that his wife Ashanti might face some negative effects from his choice.
They claimed: “Her music career is doing better now, and she could lose her main fans.”
Sure enough, Ashanti is already dealing with the consequences of her husband’s decision.
The person who managed the ‘Ashanti News’ fan account on Instagram announced that they would shut it down, and that decision was down to Nelly’s recent actions.
In a statement that they shared with their 110,000 followers, the account manager stated that because of the recent news about Nelly and his choices, they could no longer run @AshantiNews or support the direction the couple were going in.
They added: “For over 20 years it’s been amazing connecting Ashanti fans around the world and sharing news, videos and photos. I will miss a lot of you!”
The person finished by sharing that it was beyond disappointing.
Fans Defend Ashanti For Nelly’s Decision
Instagram users also expressed their disappointment when they heard the news.
One person said that they hated that Ashanti had to face the backlash from her husband’s choices.
The commentator added that it was a prime example of how the choices a person’s partner makes could affect them as well.
Somebody else wrote that if Nelly didn’t do anything else, the ONE thing he would do was embarrass Ashanti.
Are Nelly And Kelly Rowland In A ‘Dilemma’?
Some people have also pointed out that it was a shame that Nelly and Kelly were reportedly not in a good place after she found out about his performance at the inaugural ball, because it was only a few months earlier that they’d taken to the stage again to perform Dilemma for the first time in years.
An article by PEOPLE talked about how the two singers were reunited thanks to the 2024 Baby2Baby Gala event in Los Angeles.
Nelly was invited to perform, and during his show, he called Kelly onto the stage.
The Brooklyn Paper revealed that Kelly is a board member of Baby2Baby and has spent many years supporting the charity.
While on stage, Nelly complimented Kelly, calling her an angel.
And he said that since he had a Baby2Baby representative with him, he thought that it would be a great chance for them to perform together.
The rapper said: “I think it’s only right since I had this request from everybody that, you know, we work some magic.”
After thanking Kelly for joining him on stage and making the moment happen again,
Nelly signaled to the DJ to start the music.
When the intro to Dilemma played, the crowd pretty much just lost it.
Some of the celebrity attendees in the audience included Chrissy Teigen, Ciara, Jennifer Garner, Jessica Alba, Paris Hilton, Heidi Klum, and Anna Kendrick.
Nelly And Kelly’s Song ‘Dilemma’ Success
Dilemma is one of Nelly’s most successful songs.
It came out in 2002 and topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 non-consecutive weeks, replacing his previous hit, Hot In Herre.
The single received a nomination for Record of the Year at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards and ultimately took home the award for Best Rap/Sung Performance.
It features a sample from Patti LaBelle’s 1983 track Love, Need and Want You.
Not many people know that the legendary singer even made an appearance in the music video for Dilemma.
The video became one of the first hip-hop videos on YouTube to ever reach 1 billion views.
Will Nelly And Kelly Release ‘Dilemma’ Part 2?
In 2009, Nelly and Kelly worked on a new song together titled Gone, which, at one point, was going to be called Dilemma Part 2.
MTV News reported that Nelly later changed his mind.
He explained: “I don’t want to say it’s a sequel. I don’t want to diminish anything with ‘Dilemma’ or have an expectation you can’t live up to when you do that.”
The rapper also claimed that the chemistry between him and Kelly had already proven itself to be good, whether it was onstage or in the studio.
He said that it was something that they wanted to reconnect with.
But it doesn’t look like something like this will be happening again any time soon.
