Nelly visited Atlanta’s Lenox Square Mall last weekend to promote his new Apple Bottoms Fragrance.? During his visit, I was invited out to get spend a lil one on one time with the MO rapper who actually visits the “A” quite frequently. Unlike some celebs who shall remain nameless, Nelly’s not all about partying and bullsh*t, he’s about business and social change.
I was quite impressed by Nelly’s entrepreneurial ventures, in addition to his dedication to his foundation, 4 Sho 4 Kids, which was formed after the death of his sister, Jackie Donahue, who lost a four year battle to leukemia in 2005. A day prior to his visit to Lenox, Nelly took time to visit kid’s suffering from Cancer at Children?s Healthcare of Atlanta Pediatric Hospital, where he spent time playing games and signing autographs.
Those kids are the strongest people on this planet. To be a young age and to make it through so much adversity and to pull through…to make it through that, the rest of their life is just easy.
If you were at Macy’s Saturday, you may have noticed that Nelly had a co-host at the table with him during his autograph signing. Jerry, a Make a Wish Foundation recipient, received his wish to meet the legendary rapper and spend a day with him.? Jerry was treated like superstar, as he greeted the anxious crowd along with Nelly:
I personally witnessed a bit of Nelly’s generosity in the Macy’s back office as I prepared for our one on one and I’ll tell you more about that in a sec, but first, check out?my video interview with the Missouri rapper as well as more shots from the Macy’s visit below:
Video ~ ATLien’s One on One w/Nelly at Macy’s
I swear I couldn’t focus at all…I was too busy looking in Nelly’s eyes. That thang right thurrrr is finnne! whoooo *fanning*
Anyway… I managed to ask Nelly about his relationship status and he said forget what you heard on the blogs, he’s still single. I also made one suggestion to Nelly about how to sell more of his fragrance, and that was to reprise his supermodel role and remove his shirt for some ad spots. I guaranteed him sales would sky rocket.
Since I was too busy focusing on his physical, I totally forgot to ask about the break in of his St. Louis home, which occurred the day before but Nelly, didn’t seem too fazed about it and I’m sure those things can be replaced.
As I was wrapping up my coverage, I overheard Nelly talking to a few parents after greeting a few of his younger fans in the back office. He’d asked a young brother and sister if they ever played Wii and they looked kinda confused. When Nelly realized they didn’t know what he was talking about, he told them he’d make sure they got one for Christmas. He then got the parent’s info to make sure that happened.
Nelly’s great. I think I love him…
Photos from Nelly’s Hospital Visit below:
Visit JesUs4Jackie to get more information about Nelly’s foundation and to find out how you too can make a difference.
Photos via WireImage, StraightFromTheA.com & Twitter
Videography by D. Jones Productions
**Special thanks to Theda Sandiford & AB Fragrances for the personal invite.?
