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 | Heart of a ChampionPhillip Duckett, Nelly, John Tesh | Nelly | Play | 04:30 | 10 MB | 33 MB |
| 2 | Na-Nana-NaPhalon Alexander, Nelly | Nelly | Play | 03:59 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 3 | Flap Your WingsChad Hugo, Nelly, Pharrell Williams | Nelly | Play | 04:03 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 4 | American DreamBernard Edwards, Kyjuan, Murphy Lee, Nelly | Nelly | Play | 04:56 | 11 MB | 36 MB |
| 5 | River Don't RunnnMurphy Lee, Stephen Marley, Nelly | Nelly | Play | 04:59 | 11 MB | 35 MB |
| 6 | Tilt Ya Head BackNelly | Nelly | Play | 04:13 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 7 | Grand Hang OutJason "Jay E" Epperson, Nelly | Nelly, Remy Ma | Play | 04:50 | 11 MB | 35 MB |
| 8 | Getcha GetchaKyjuan, Murphy Lee, Nelly | Nelly | Play | 04:37 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 9 | Another OneNelly | Nelly | Play | 04:41 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 10 | Spida ManJayson Bridges, Nelly | Nelly | Play | 04:51 | 11 MB | 37 MB |
| 11 | PlayaMissy Elliott, Albert Johnson, Nelly | Nelly | Play | 03:56 | 9 MB | 23 MB |
| 12 | Down in da WaterNelly | Nelly | Play | 04:20 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 13 | BoyJason "Jay E" Epperson, Cameron Gipp, Nelly | Nelly | Play | 03:59 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 58 mins | 133 MB | |||||
| 58 mins | 415 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christina Aguilera | Featured Artist, Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Vocals |
| 2 | The Alchemist | Producer |
| 3 | Phalon Alexander | Composer |
| 4 | Ali | Featured Artist, Main Personnel |
| 5 | Big Gipp | Featured Artist, Guest Artist, Main Personnel |
| 6 | Jayson Bridges | Composer, Producer |
| 7 | Sandy Brummels | Art Direction |
| 8 | Al Byno | Engineer |
| 9 | Jasper Cameron | Featured Artist, Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Producer, Vocals |
| 10 | Andrew Coleman | Engineer |
| 11 | Dirty Swift | Audio Production, Producer |
| 12 | Doe | Audio Production |
| 13 | Phillip Duckett | Composer, Producer |
| 14 | Bernard Edwards | Composer |
| 15 | Michael Eleopoulos | Assistant |
| 16 | Missy Elliott | Composer, Featured Artist, Guest Artist, Main Personnel |
| 17 | Jason "Jay E" Epperson | Composer, Producer |
| 18 | Fat Joe | Featured Artist, Guest Artist, Main Personnel |
| 19 | Loretta J. Galbreath | Direction |
| 20 | Chris Gehringer | Mastering |
| 21 | Cameron Gipp | Composer |
| 22 | Harold Guy | Assistant |
| 23 | Jennifer Havey | A&R |
| 24 | Tal Herzberg | Engineer |
| 25 | Chad Hugo | Composer |
| 26 | Jun Ishizeki | Engineer |
| 27 | Jazze Pha | Featured Artist, Main Personnel, Producer |
| 28 | Albert Johnson | Composer |
| 29 | Chip Karpells | Assistant |
| 30 | Kyjuan | Composer |
| 31 | Kevin Law | A&R |
| 32 | Marc Stephen Lee | Engineer |
| 33 | Murphy Lee | Composer, Featured Artist, Guest Artist, Main Personnel |
| 34 | Lil' Flip | Featured Artist, Guest Artist, Main Personnel |
| 35 | Lincoln University Vocal Ensemble | Featured Artist, Main Personnel |
| 36 | Remy Ma | Performer, Primary Artist |
| 37 | Jonathan Mannion | Photography |
| 38 | Stephen Marley | Composer, Featured Artist, Main Personnel |
| 39 | NDoffene MBodji | Assistant |
| 40 | Mobb Deep | Featured Artist, Guest Artist, Main Personnel |
| 41 | Carl Nappa | Engineer |
| 42 | Nelly | Composer, Executive Producer, Main Personnel, Primary Artist |
| 43 | The Neptunes | Audio Production, Producer |
| 44 | Jared Nugent | Assistant |
| 45 | Dave Pensado | Vocal Mixing |
| 46 | Remy | Featured Artist, Guest Artist, Main Personnel |
| 47 | Joe Spix | Art Direction, Design |
| 48 | St. Lunatics | Featured Artist, Guest Artist, Main Personnel |
| 49 | T-Mix | Producer |
| 50 | John Tesh | Composer |
| 51 | Gube Thug | Featured Artist, Main Personnel |
| 52 | Richard Travali | Mixing |
| 53 | Trife | Audio Production, Keyboards, Producer |
| 54 | Young Tru | Featured Artist, Main Personnel |
| 55 | Bruce Waynne | Audio Production, Producer |
| 56 | James White | Photography |
| 57 | Pharrell Williams | Composer |
Lincoln University Vocal Ensemble
| 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). |