St. Louis rapper Nelly stirs up Capitol

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Capitol was buzzing Tuesday when St. Louis rapper Nelly came to town to be recognized for his work with schools in his hometown and elsewhere.

While Gov. Bob Holden and members of the House honored the rapper and his group the St. Lunatics, some questioned whether the state should praise a group that sings about illegal drug use and sexual promiscuity.

The focus of the recognition was the group's promise to play basketball with high schools that showed increased participation in standardized state tests. That pledge helped increase student participation in the tests by 13.5 percent, according to Rep. Betty Thompson, D-University City.

Nelly and his band are from University City -- an inner suburb of St. Louis -- and often use St. Louis landmarks in their music videos. They've had such hits as "Midwest Swing" and were nominated last year for a Grammy for the album "Country Grammar."

Honoring 'Lunatics'

The House adopted a resolution honoring the group and Holden gave them a proclamation lauding them for their work.

"What is so very important is the fact that these young men have not only made a contribution with their music but they made a contribution to the city of St. Louis, the state of Missouri and improved the academic standings of the young people of St. Louis by encouraging them to take the Missouri Assessment Program tests," Holden said.

Lawmakers and young Capitol interns were among the hundreds of fans and spectators who showed up for the lunchtime event. The Missouri State Highway Patrol sent nearly 30 officers for crowd control.

Not everyone was pleased.

Rep. Charles Portwood, R-Ballwin, found copies of Nelly's lyrics on the Internet and was carrying them around to show people. The lyrics included profanity and graphic sexual references.

"Here we are honoring a man for his contribution to the education of our kids, but if you read his lyrics he is talking about promiscuous sex, crystal meth, snorting cocaine. These are the kinds of things you want your kids to hear?" Portwood said. "If it demeans our society, it's wrong."

No St. Louis honor

Objections to Nelly's lyrics are nothing new among government officials.

In 2000, then-St. Louis Mayor Clarence Harmon refused to honor the artist for his work because of vulgarity in his lyrics.

Nelly, whose given name is Cornell Haynes Jr., shrugged off criticism.

"Hip-hop has run into a lot of resistance, period. We are the voice of the youth. Any time you are the voice of the youth, you run into resistance," Nelly said.

Nelly said he and his group are trying to help his community's youth.

"We are a lot of the focus of what they see. We can't change our music, because our music is who we are," he said.

"But we can also tell them to do as we do and do what we have done. And what we have done is all graduated" from high school.

Holden, standing next to Nelly, declined to answer any questions after the proclamation was issued. Rather, he bolted from the room. Nelly later was to visit the Governor's Mansion to meet Holden's 11-year-old son, who was skipping the start of his sixth-grade basketball practice.

Responding to questions about the appropriateness of Nelly's appearance given the nature of some of his lyrics, Holden spokesman Jerry Nachtigal said: "The governor is not saying he agrees with the lyrics' content, but what he does agree with is ... that these young men used their success to improve the quality of education in St. Louis."

Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, cut Nelly more slack, noting the House Lounge in which Nelly appeared was itself once controversial.

Lawmakers in the early part of last century wanted to paint over a mural by Thomas Hart Benton, in part, because it portrays politicians gawking at showgirl dancers.

"Artists are always controversial," Carnahan said. "The reason he's here is he's given so much back to the community and the kids."