Nelly Said ‘MTV Cribs’ Ruined His Life: ‘It Was the Worst Thing I Did’
In 2002, rapper Nelly appeared on MTV Cribs, a decision that he would come to regret. The “Just a Dream” artist showed off his St. Louis home for the program. He wasn’t aware at the time, but he didn’t have much longer to live there. He shared why showing off his home resulted in him having to move.
Nelly’s appearance on ‘MTV Cribs’ temporarily ruined his life
In 2002, Nelly welcomed MTV Cribs to his St. Louis home. The rapper was born in Austin but spent his teenage years in the Missouri city.
In the show, Nelly showed off his cars, arcade room, aquarium, jacuzzi, and swimming pool. His lakefront home had four bedrooms and five bathrooms. When asked if his appearance on the show was real, he confirmed that it was. He also said that it was a mistake.
“Hell yeah,” Nelly said on The Cruz Show. “It was the worst thing I did, being on MTV Cribs.”
The show didn’t put his address on display, but there were too many identifying details.
“[MTV Cribs] showed a plate because I had my name engraved on it,” he said.
He didn’t realize the strength of his fan base in the city.
“When we did it, I’m thinking this is my end all be all,” he said. “Now, I’m not knowing that [the St. Lunatics are] just getting started as a group and we were going to keep having success and things like that.”
Before long, people began showing up outside his house.
“There was no gate on the house, and people were pulling their boats up to the dock,” he said. “My mom is out by the pool, motherf***ers pull they boat up on the dock, walk up the dock.”
Roughly a year after the episode aired, he had to move out of the home.
“We moved. We got gates and s*** after that,” he said. “But I thought I was going to be there forever.”
A home Nelly purchased after ‘MTV Cribs’ recently sold for less than he may have hoped
In 2021, Nelly sold another one of his St. Louis homes. Per St. Louis’ Fox 2, the six-bedroom, seven-bathroom home was “rundown” and would likely need “thousands of dollars” in repairs before anyone could live in the home.
Nelly reportedly bought the home with the intention of quickly flipping it, though these plans clearly fell apart. Nineteen years after he purchased the home, he put it on the market for $599,000. It reportedly sold for $982,500.
His fans tried to help him out of financial trouble
Though Nelly’s fans pushed him out of what he thought was his forever home, they tried to bail him out of financial trouble. Legal issues and unpaid taxes made money tight for the rapper in 2022. Per The Guardian, he owed $2.4 million to the US government. His fans banded together with the goal of streaming the song “Hot in Herre” enough times to raise the funds.
Unfortunately, this required between 280 million and 403 million streams. After he sold his music catalog for $50 million in 2023, however, Nelly was likely in a much better financial position.
