Nelly's decision to release his Sweatsuit project as two respective albums, Sweat and Suit -- the former clubby and insincere, the latter refined and mannered -- is somewhat of a mixed blessing.
On the one hand, it's nice to pick whichever side of Nelly's persona you prefer, whether in general or at any particular moment; on the other hand, the separate-album concept makes for two very one-dimensional albums that begin to sound formulaic by their respective conclusions.
The thing is, Nelly has plenty of great songs here on these two albums.
Quality certainly isn't an issue -- he works with a who's who of pop-rap circa 2004, from the Neptunes to Christina Aguilera to Snoop Dogg to Missy Elliott, and ends up with a wealth of certified and could-be hits.
Yet by sorting them into two different categories and then lumping them together onto two separate CDs, the diversity at hand is nullified.
Granted, this two-styles, two-discs approach worked well for OutKast on Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (and less well, but well nonetheless, for R.
Kelly on Happy People/U Saved Me), but it doesn't work so well for Nelly.
His Sweatsuit recordings are diverse, for sure, but OutKast he isn't, nor is he the Pied Piper.
Rather, Nelly is essentially a pop star who happens to rap, and as such, he specializes in calculated pop formulas -- namely clubby, cocky party songs (previously "Hot in Herre," presently "Flap Your Wings") and sweet, sultry love songs (previously "Dilemma," presently "My Place").
And by sorting those two formulas into respective albums, the calculation becomes overt and comes across as formulaic to discerning listeners.
The key, then, is to not be a discerning listener: it's best to just let these songs play and take them for what they are -- well-done popcraft.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Play It OffChad Hugo, Nelly, Pharrell Williams | Nelly, Pharrell Williams | Play | 03:48 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 2 | Pretty ToesPhalon Alexander, André Benjamin, Patrick Brown, Raymond "Yoda" Murray, Nelly, Antwan Patton, T.I., Rico Wade | Nelly, Jazze Pha, T.I. | Play | 04:29 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 3 | My PlaceKenny Gamble, Jaheim, E. Jordan, D. Moore, Nelly | Nelly, Jaheim | Play | 05:36 | 12 MB | 39 MB |
| 4 | ParadiseNelly | Nelly | Play | 04:36 | 10 MB | 33 MB |
| 5 | She Don't Know My NameCalvin Broadus, Snoop Dogg, Ronald Isley, Nelly, Antwan Patton | Nelly, Snoop Dogg, Ronald Isley | Play | 04:26 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 6 | N Dey SayJayson Bridges, Nelly | Nelly | Play | 03:37 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 7 | Woodgrain and Leather Wit a HoleJayson Bridges, Nelly | Nelly | Play | 05:13 | 11 MB | 34 MB |
| 8 | In My LifeEarl Gaynor, Robert Gerongco, Mase, Nelly, Avery Storm | Nelly, Mase, Avery Storm | Play | 03:40 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 9 | Over and OverJason Bridges, James D. "Sted Fast" II Hargrove, Tim McGraw, Nelly | Nelly, Tim McGraw | Play | 04:13 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 10 | Nobody KnowsJermaine Dupri, Anthony Hamilton, Nelly, James Phillips | Nelly, Anthony Hamilton | Play | 04:37 | 10 MB | 28 MB |
| 11 | Die for YouNelly, Soulshock | Nelly | Play | 04:28 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 48 mins | 112 MB | |||||
| 48 mins | 333 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ahm | Producer |
| 2 | Phalon Alexander | Composer |
| 3 | Avery Storm | Composer, Main Personnel, Primary Artist, Vocoder |
| 4 | Beat Bullies | Producer |
| 5 | André Benjamin | Composer |
| 6 | Big Boi | Producer |
| 7 | Matt Brauss | Bass |
| 8 | Jason Bridges | Composer |
| 9 | Jayson Bridges | Composer, Drums, Keyboards, Percussion, Producer |
| 10 | Calvin Broadus | Composer |
| 11 | Patrick Brown | Composer |
| 12 | Sandy Brummels | Art Direction |
| 13 | Chris Carmouche | Engineer |
| 14 | Andrew Coleman | Audio Engineer, Engineer |
| 15 | Jermaine Dupri | Composer, Producer |
| 16 | Michael Eleopoulos | Assistant |
| 17 | Brian Frye | Engineer |
| 18 | Richard "Rip" Gager | Guitar |
| 19 | Kenny Gamble | Composer |
| 20 | Earl Gaynor | Composer, Producer |
| 21 | Chris Gehringer | Mastering |
| 22 | Robert Gerongco | Composer, Producer |
| 23 | Sam Gerongco | Producer |
| 24 | Anthony Hamilton | Composer, Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 25 | James D. "Sted Fast" II Hargrove | Composer, Guitar, Producer |
| 26 | Jennifer Havey | A&R, Artist Coordination |
| 27 | John Horesco IV | Assistant |
| 28 | Chad Hugo | Composer |
| 29 | Ronald Isley | Composer, Main Personnel, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 30 | Jaheim | Composer, Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Primary Artist, Rap |
| 31 | Jazze Pha | Audio Production, Main Personnel, Primary Artist, Producer, Rap, Various Instruments |
| 32 | Kim Moore Johnson | Vocals (Background) |
| 33 | E. Jordan | Composer |
| 34 | Rajinder Kala | Congas |
| 35 | Karlin | Producer |
| 36 | Chip Karpells | Assistant, Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant |
| 37 | Debra Killings | Bass |
| 38 | Kuya Brothers | Producer |
| 39 | Kevin Law | A&R, Engineer |
| 40 | Bryan Loss | Drums |
| 41 | LROC | Producer |
| 42 | Dan "Thunda Dan" Marshal | Engineer, Guitar |
| 43 | Mase | Composer, Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Primary Artist, Rap |
| 44 | Brandon "B Don" Matthews | Engineer |
| 45 | Tim McGraw | Composer, Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 46 | Tadd Mingo | Assistant |
| 47 | D. Moore | Composer |
| 48 | Raymond "Yoda" Murray | Composer |
| 49 | Carl Nappa | Audio Engineer, Engineer |
| 50 | Nelly | Composer, Executive Producer, Main Personnel, Primary Artist, Rap |
| 51 | The Neptunes | Audio Production, Producer |
| 52 | Jared Nugent | Assistant, Assistant Engineer |
| 53 | Onion | Guitar |
| 54 | Antwan Patton | Composer |
| 55 | James Phillips | Composer |
| 56 | Shorty B. | Bass, Guitar |
| 57 | Snoop Dogg | Composer, Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Primary Artist, Rap |
| 58 | Soulshock | Composer, Producer |
| 59 | Joe Spix | Art Direction, Design |
| 60 | Phil Tan | Mixing |
| 61 | T.I. | Composer, Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Primary Artist, Rap |
| 62 | Richard Travali | Mixing |
| 63 | Serge Tsai | Engineer |
| 64 | Rico Wade | Composer |
| 65 | James White | Photography |
| 66 | Pharrell Williams | Composer, Main Personnel, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |