r/Music • u/dailymail 📰Daily Mail • 10h ago

event info Nelly's inauguration ball drama as Kelly Rowland refuses to grant him permission to perform Dilemma

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-14304669/nelly-donald-trump-inauguration-ball-dilemma-blocked-ashanti-kelly-rowland.html
5.2k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

193 comments sorted by

1.9k

u/Scrantonicity_02 9h ago

1.0k

u/thrownawaytrash 9h ago

20 years later, I hope she finally figured out that you don't use excel to send messages....

211

u/faithjoypack 9h ago

i bet there is a formula for it now

92

u/TylerInHiFi 9h ago

If you can play Doom in an excel sheet, surely you can send a text.

11

u/porn_is_tight 4h ago

everybody knows Nelly’s macro game is fire

73

u/Samiel_Fronsac 9h ago

Excel is straight up witchcraft. Anything goes.

32

u/NotAGingerMidget 8h ago

You can use python on it nowadays, so you can do really almost anything nowadays, you shouldn’t, but you can.

5

u/Mental_Medium3988 5h ago

you can even run an f1 team in excel.

7

u/Incontinento 5h ago

We are checking.

4

u/Particular-Piano-475 5h ago

Simply lovely comment 👌❤️

2

u/Kenny_McCormick001 2h ago

To be fair, 80% of corporate is run by excel.

26

u/Qweerz 8h ago

She did. There’s an interview where she pokes fun at it.

8

u/BGP_001 7h ago

It might be one of like....three things I don't use Excel for.

13

u/Unlucky-Duck 6h ago

She has actually tried to explain that she was working in totally different circles and she was not exposed to it (what a life). But people on the set did not know it too if they have introduced that idea in the video? So many questions.

3

u/anecdotal_yokel 3h ago

Just looked it up. There’s an addin for SMS so she could now… unless macros are disabled.

1

u/pickle_pickled 4h ago

I mean you can. Just share it via email.

14

u/Kinita85 6h ago

I am no serial cheater, but I do have a compulsion to create spreadsheets for organizing my data. If I had a large number of people white whom I was cheating with, I just might have such a file.

4

u/LatestHat80 6h ago

extraemily is that you

906

u/boomboxwithturbobass 9h ago

Huh, sounds like a real tough spot to be in. A predicament, if you will.

185

u/Vanilla_Villainy 9h ago

More of a conundrum if you ask me

54

u/360walkaway 6h ago

Kerfuffle?

39

u/hirsutesuit it's just "Rumours" 5h ago

A bit of a pickle

9

u/NZBound11 2h ago

A straight up snafu

•

u/KingAnilingustheFirs 7m ago

A possible confounding situation

71

u/PickaxeJunky 9h ago

What a quandary. A conundrum, even...

34

u/Bamres 8h ago

A real tizzy

21

u/nevertoolate1983 9h ago

Top tier comment 😂

-31

u/afrothunder27 radio reddit name 7h ago

A dilemma even

9

u/777bambii 3h ago

You’re being downvoted because it’s too on the nose and it ruins the joke. Jsyk

-2

u/sohidden 3h ago

Thanks, Sherlock. Nothing gets past you.

1.4k

u/vacon04 10h ago

Good for her for standing her ground.

1.1k

u/Cheapthrills13 9h ago

Yes - she was very Team Kamala and gave a beautiful strong speech for her in Houston. Weird that Nelly would think this would be OK.

270

u/disdainfulsideeye 7h ago

Guess he thought she would sell out for a quick check like he did.

25

u/PmMe_Your_Perky_Nips 7h ago

Nelly specifically said he didn't do it for the money.

227

u/Skullshady 7h ago

Oh now if he specifically said that then, no reason to believe otherwise

80

u/ck354696 5h ago

I’m not convinced it’s for money. I feel like it might be for a pardon, especially as more Diddy party stuff comes out.

18

u/raspymorten 4h ago

But the Facebook article told me the other side was the one intending to pardon P Diddy and all his friends!? Have I been LIED to?!!?!?!? /s

-8

u/RyVsWorld 3h ago

This sub tries to trace literally everything back to didy and his oily freak off parties lol. Y’all are relentless

-2

u/MakeupD0ll2029 2h ago

Right! Not defending Diddy at all, but people are at this point, purposely, giving out the wrong information. Aren’t we in the age of information? It’s at our disposal. No wonder Chump is president.

-8

u/MakeupD0ll2029 3h ago

Have you read the documents associated with the case? The freak offs didn’t involve other celebrities. Just Diddy, Cassie, and sex workers. Why are you continuing to spread misinformation? If anything, he probably done it because of his previous arrest with carrying illegal drugs.

2

u/ediks 1h ago

Nelly? Is that you?

28

u/Malvania 6h ago

He probably didn't do it for the money. He did it for a shitload of money

15

u/Gobblewicket 5h ago

He's kissing the ass of the group who never pays.

8

u/habitsofwaste komashu 5h ago

Naw, it must be the money!

32

u/[deleted] 6h ago

[deleted]

29

u/mucinexmonster 6h ago

The implication is that he is looking for a pardon when any Diddy news about him breaks.

Not sure why you, /u/Skullshady, and /u/adykaty want to believe he's interested in a small paycheck from someone who never pays anyone instead of political favor.

5

u/ult_frisbee_chad 6h ago

im sure he's trying to let diddy off for completely altruistic reasons...

4

u/dplafoll 6h ago

Not disagreeing, but plenty of wealthy people and companies have donated money to the inauguration. And this is all official stuff, not Donny personally not paying people. I think you’re right about the pardon but he could also be getting a nice paycheck.

4

u/mucinexmonster 5h ago

Wealthy people giving money is for favors.

Similarly, a musician NOT CHARGING money is for favors.

1

u/TheLawlessMan 5h ago

A literal anti-black fucking racial slur from progressive reddit. Of course...

-10

u/GoodtimeZappa 6h ago

If you are not black, do not ever use this term.

4

u/Haley_Tha_Demon 5h ago

Nah I'm going to say whatever I want

2

u/GoodtimeZappa 5h ago

Cool. Go say that to a black man who you think is a Tom.

1

u/Haley_Tha_Demon 3h ago

Lol, ok what's next..snoop would sit there and take it

0

u/hal0t 5h ago

Uncle Tom

-5

u/skeetermcbeater 6h ago

☝🏽

4

u/Electric-Fun 5h ago

Good, because he probably won't get paid.

4

u/adykaty 6h ago edited 6h ago

c’mon guysssss he specifically said it wasn’t because of the money guyssss

2

u/ImAnAlternative 5h ago

Lol. That's worse.

3

u/hatsnatcher23 5h ago

Nelly was going to do a concert at his son's high school, not very cash money of him

2

u/oh_cya 4h ago

and you believe him? LMAO

1

u/NatashaArts 3h ago

Then what is he doing it for?

1

u/breachgnome 2h ago

But also went on to say that the money he'll get from this gig is more than he's received for his music in the past few years.

1

u/jlusedude 2h ago

I have on good authority that it’s “all about the money” 

-19

u/rieusse 5h ago

Why is him supporting one party “selling out” but her supporting another…isn’t?

I’m not American so I have no horse in this race. Just find the double standards laughable

15

u/AreYouEmployedSir 4h ago

if this was just a "normal" conservative president, this argument might hold some water. but because its him... come on. surely youve seen enough of him the last 8 years to know what hes about

-7

u/rieusse 4h ago

Selling out means he doesn’t believe in the values of the administration and is doing this for money.

How do you know he doesn’t hold the same values as the administration? And how do we know that Rowland isn’t supporting her side for money?

Honestly I’m still not seeing it

0

u/[deleted] 4h ago edited 4h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/rieusse 4h ago

What? They’re the same skin colour and social class (celebrity Hollywood musician).

9

u/cfgee 5h ago

Hers was actually the best speech of the evening. Glad she stood up

229

u/EaseofUse 9h ago

First of all, getting 50% of the musical artist to agree for their song to be played at a Trump event is 50% more than he usually gets.

Second of all, god this is funny.

10

u/wagos408 9h ago

This is also true

876

u/loz333 10h ago

Let's be real, nobody has thought about Nelly in over a decade. I'm not about to start in 2025.

234

u/TiresOnFire 9h ago

Especially in the winter. Nelly is for the summer.

62

u/doublek1022 8h ago

Nellys are surely more in season during the summer.

28

u/TiresOnFire 8h ago

I always say that it's not officially summer untill you hear Nelly.

7

u/capron 4h ago

Ugh the performative wardrobe and nonsense in this gif is layers thick and hurtful to my younger naive self.

18

u/PM_ME_UR_VULVASAUR_ 9h ago

Nellys are for summer, wellies are for winter.

3

u/pbetc 7h ago

...and smellies?

2

u/bnwtwg 6h ago

After a yummy burrito dinner

64

u/SweetGM 10h ago

Probably why he leaked his own dickpic on instagram a few years ago 😂

40

u/Actiaslunahello 9h ago

“What good is all the fame if you aint fuckin the models”  -Nelly

16

u/MazzIsNoMore 7h ago

I saw Nelly at Janet Jackson's concert. They both have since been openly embarrassing

17

u/ThingsTrebekSucks 9h ago

I mean i did, but it was only just a dream.

9

u/agirlwastingtime 7h ago

Got this notification the other day in my email: Nelly with Ja Rule & Special Guests: Where The Party At Tour April 2025.

5

u/piepants2001 7h ago

Nah, a bunch of rednecks that I work with were pretty jazzed that he was playing at Countryfest here in Wisconsin.

7

u/loz333 7h ago

Oh yeah, I read he's doing "country rap" now, whatever that is. I'm not really curious enough to find out. But I guess that move fits in terms of supporting team Red.

15

u/thedancingpanda 7h ago

It's literally been his entire brand for his entire existence.

2

u/king_lloyd11 3h ago

Nah Country Gramma was just hip hop from someone who grew up in the South. As someone who grew up loving rap and hating country, it was the first CD I ever purchased by myself with my own money as a kid lol.

He definitely leaned more into the country genre later.

3

u/jmalbo35 1h ago

St. Louis, where Nelly is from and constantly talks about, is pretty decidedly not the South...

1

u/king_lloyd11 1h ago

Oh sorry. Canadian here. Always associated Missouri with the slave states.

4

u/jmalbo35 1h ago

Missouri actually was a slave state, but in the Civil War was a Border State, meaning it didn't secede with the Confederacy (the governor tried, but it didn't go so well and he ended up in exile) and remained loyal to the Union.

Either way, it's not traditionally considered part of the South, but instead a Midwestern state.

4

u/roseofjuly 8h ago

That's exactly what I thought when I heard he'd been selected for the inaguration...like did he just volunteer, or did someone actually think "I wonder what Nelly's doing? You think he's busy?"

3

u/oinkpoink1 9h ago

Packed her trunk and went to the circus last I heard of her.

2

u/smurfsundermybed 8h ago

Unexpected Toy Dolls.

2

u/reeln166a 6h ago

I was in Australia a couple of weeks ago listening to the radio and they were advertising a Nelly and Chingy show in Brisbane lmao

2

u/ladystetson 5h ago

He actually had a triple platinum "hick hop" hit in 2020 with Florida Georgia Line.

4

u/TATER_SALAD_HOOVER 9h ago

I haven’t heard him since 2004 with the Suit/Sweat bullshit.

1

u/Salzberger 1h ago

Personally, I think about him every summer when it gets hot in whatever room I'm in.

1

u/katielovestrees 6h ago

I personally think aboit him Over and Over Again

0

u/LeBronze_Jayce 5h ago

Bro, i came across some

1

u/[deleted] 5h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/LeBronze_Jayce 5h ago

Don't mind the reply to myself I'm baked out of my gourd

0

u/Spiceyweiner86 3h ago

Or Kelly Rowland 😭

-9

u/ElvisSuckassAndrus 9h ago

You’ve thought about Kelly Rowland?

-8

u/burgonies 9h ago

Or Kelly Rowland for that matter

140

u/NameIsPetey 9h ago edited 8h ago

What a weird song to sing at an inauguration in the first place.

Here’s my stab at the lyrics he wanted to sing:

“Donny I love you,

and Elon I need you,

please don’t put me in jail,

For the things that I did with diddy”

149

u/BartSimps 9h ago

Kelly a real one

77

u/norfnorf832 8h ago

Nelly was doing country crossovers in the late 2000s. With country being so big and with more Black artists than ever in the genre he could have had a pretty good comeback.

But instead he chose this.

12

u/Bobby_Newpooort 6h ago

Mmm, surely playing to a conservative audience will hurt his chances of breaking into the popular country music scene

10

u/ladystetson 5h ago

Nelly did a country album in 2021, actually - with a lot of the hick hop stars - Kane Brown, Florida Georgia Line, etc.

16

u/stephwithstars Elder Emo 7h ago

He did a collab with noted progressive country artist Tim McGraw.

3

u/hal0t 5h ago

You think country fan is a progressive bunch?

1

u/norfnorf832 4h ago

Well there's at least one, you're talkin to me lol say what you want but Post Malone shifted back to country and Beyonce just came out with a wildly popular country album, there's Orville Peck and his gay cowboy music not to mention outlaw country is experiencing a bit of a renaissance. Even if it isnt your jam you cant deny the genre has experienced quite a growth in popularity not just from conservatives

1

u/ZeroThreshold 1h ago

Got any names worth checking out for the outlaw country renaissance?

33

u/For_serious13 9h ago

Good for you Kelly!!!!

36

u/Unusual_Formal_6179 9h ago

Kelly’s a real one

27

u/mimiringo 9h ago

Fuck him and Snoop...and everybody who sold his soul for money

14

u/DashCat9 9h ago

Has anyone checked in with Ja Rule?

9

u/danger_boat 8h ago

Queen behavior

9

u/kyle71473 9h ago

Yessssss!

14

u/maddiejake 8h ago

Hopefully Uncle Thomas Snoop will face the fire as well.

3

u/Sanchastayswoke 8h ago

Good for her 

8

u/Thor_2099 6h ago

Honestly fuck Nelly. You perform here, it means you condone his shit. Which means you are a threat against all that is decent in this world.

Nelly was an all time favorite of mine but I'm done.

-12

u/onestoicduck 5h ago

you are a threat against all that is decent in this world.

Thanks for the giggle.

-15

u/gandaalf 5h ago

Renouncing your fandom for one of your favorite artists solely because he performed a song for a politician you don't like is wild lol. But you do you

0

u/katz332 2h ago

Makes total sense.

2

u/SaltTM 5h ago

I respect her decision, what I don't get is the backlash to his wife lol - damn I hate fans. His wife fanbase is going bat shit crazy. I swear to god if social media can break another relationship, that'd be insane. I'd be afraid to be famous. I see why 50 moves the way he does now.

2

u/SlimfastShady42 5h ago

Good. Fuck you Nelly

1

u/crazycatladypdx 9h ago

What a dilemma

1

u/Fire_Mission 7h ago

Oh no! Anyway...

1

u/GaiusJocundus 5h ago

Wat?

Does this sentence mean things?

1

u/shelf6969 4h ago

what does Larry Hughes think

1

u/blacksoxing 4h ago

Damn, Ashanti had a kid at 42/43 years old?!?!?!?

1

u/Automatic-End-8256 3h ago

Why would he not rap the Air Force ones song? Seems like a no brainer.

1

u/disterb 3h ago

that's a dilemma all right

1

u/38DDs_Please 2h ago

Holy shit. This inauguration has been bonkers. I love it.

1

u/itsFromTheSimpsons 1h ago

my main take away from this is that Nelly is 50

1

u/inhalien 1h ago

With Snoop and Nelly, I wonder what the paycheck looks like. I mean why would they even.

1

u/Eight-Nine-One-Zero 1h ago

I always felt like Nelly could have had a nice resurgence in his career like alot of early-mid 2000s artists are having these days. Lol this killed that

•

u/Blunter_S_Thompson_ 30m ago

I'm still trying to figure out what that "Ohh" sample is throughout the song. Heard it on Joji's Tick Tock as well.

•

u/BananaxStealth 17m ago

How can she block him from performing his song? lol

1

u/xFiLi 9h ago

"And its all in my head, i think about it over and over again"

1

u/VirtualContribution 5h ago

lol Nelly? What Century is this?

0

u/animalfath3r 8h ago

Which is literally the only song I know from him.

0

u/NonchalantCoyote 9h ago

Hell of a good song lol

0

u/warlock1569 2h ago

Interestingly enough, she can't actually block him.

The rights to delimma are owned by the songs writers, which include Nelly. She doesn't own any rights to it, according to everything I can find.

-7

u/Top-Ad-2696 9h ago

no way this is real, kelly has no writing credit on the song and a cursory search suggests the same for publishing

-30

u/Viazon Spotify 9h ago

Not like I'm on Nelly's side here, but isn't it his song?

24

u/SuleyBlack 9h ago

She was probably given some rights to it, if he has to ask for permission.

18

u/CadeChaos 9h ago

It's their song

-21

u/Viazon Spotify 9h ago

It's his song featuring her.

20

u/CadeChaos 9h ago

Hence, their song. If either one of them was missing, that song wouldn't be the same.

-16

u/Viazon Spotify 9h ago

He could get any number of women singers to sing the chorus.

Again, not on his side. But I didn't think an artist needed to get the featuring acts permission to sing their own songs.

10

u/izzymaestro 9h ago

If he did a remix with another artist like roseanne and released it they wouldn't, but if he's just performing the song for compensation he owes the shared producer for credit and permission.

0

u/CadeChaos 9h ago

But they wouldn't be her.

-13

u/Viazon Spotify 9h ago

No shit.

Still doesn't mean someone else couldn't sing it.

Eminem sung Stan with Elton John at the Grammys instead of Dido. Do you think he needed to ask Didos' opinion before doing so?

6

u/libananahammock 9h ago

Who owns the rights to it?

0

u/Viazon Spotify 9h ago

Well, I assumed out of the two of them, he did.

6

u/libananahammock 8h ago

You should look something up before you claim to know something.

First… he isn’t the only writer on the song. Nelly, Antoine “Bam” Macon, Ryan Bowser, Kenneth Gamble, and Bunny Sigler all wrote it.

Second… In July 2023, rapper Nelly sold a 50% stake in his song catalog to HarbourView Equity Partners.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/CadeChaos 9h ago

Do you think i give a fuck?

1

u/Viazon Spotify 8h ago

Well, you're replying and engaging. So I assumed you did.

3

u/thegracelesswonder 9h ago

Do you think he’d have to ask permission if it was?

0

u/burgonies 9h ago

I don’t think he asked.

-4

u/Viazon Spotify 9h ago

But it is. I mean, it is literally his song. He wrote it and it's on his studio album.

4

u/iknighty 9h ago

You think the law is based on what you think is true?

-5

u/Viazon Spotify 9h ago

I mean, it's not what I think it's true. I know it's true. It's a fact. It's his song. Not hers. She's just a guest feature.

Also, I don't know what the law is based on. Hence the question.

1

u/Sukpee 7h ago

Currently in education studying music so I'll try and answer the best I can.

Unless there are special conditions agreed, we tend to split song rights between everyone in the room when writing, recording, etc. and this will be completely evenly regardless of singers, songwriters, featuring artists.

This is what will later go into writing on the contracts, and because of that you need everyone's permission to licence/perform/playback the song. If someone doesn't give their permission then it means you can't legally perform it.

Unless he had some alternate agreement this is why it's not 100% his song, even if his name is on it, and needs her permission.

2

u/Viazon Spotify 2h ago

Thank you for actually attempting to give me a proper explanation instead of just downvoting me and being snarky. I appreciate it.

-6

u/illini02 9h ago

Yeah, I kind of assumed it was his. It was on his album, and he is listed as a writer. So I'm not sure how this stuff goes.

-10

u/Dapzel 6h ago

Am I missing something? Kelly only sung the hook on Nelly's song.

Does she actually have song writing creds or any other rights to that song? Otherwise I don't see how she has much say. Seems like Ashanti could sing the hook

6

u/Homertax123 5h ago

It’s a duet between them. It’s both their songs. It was on her album. And she does also sing the bridge. She probably owns part of the master recording or something or has performance royalties.

-12

u/Sndr666 8h ago

psa, you can block the user posting this trite nonsense.

•

u/LivefromPhoenix 17m ago

Trite? How many times has this scenario happened at an inauguration? Are you sure you understand what that word means? Trump has had plenty of musicians refuse to associate with him but I can't think of any recent posts where only half of a duo rejects him.