Nelly Sweatsuit CD

Personnel: Nelly (vocals); Jaheim, Murphy Lee, Pharrell Williams, Anthony Hamilton, St. Lunatics, Stephen Marley, T.I., Avery Storm, Tim McGraw, Lincoln University Vocal Ensemble (vocals); Gipp, Jagged Edge, Jazze Pha, Ali, Missy Elliott, Mobb Deep, Diddy, Paul Wall , Snoop Dogg (rap vocals); James D. "Sted Fast" II Hargrove, Richard "Rip" Gager, Dan "Thunda Dan" Marshal, Shorty B. (guitar); Matt Brauss (brass); Jayson "Koko" Bridges (drums, percussion); Bryan Loss (drums); Rajinder Kala (congas); Kim Moore Johnson (background vocals); Jasper Cameron (vocals).
Audio Mixers: Jermaine Dupri; Mr. Leslie Braithwaite; Kori Anders; John Horesco IV; Chip Karpells; Phil Tan; Richard Travali.
Recording information: Basement Beast Studios, St. Louis, MO; Daddy's House Studios, New York, NY; Darp Studios, Atlanta, GA; Derrty Studios, LA; do Or Die Recordings and Levelhead Studio, Atlantia, GA; Jupiter Studios, St. Louis, MO; Lion's Den Studio, Miami, FL; Patchwerk Studios, Atlanta, GA; Platinum Sound Recording, New York, NY; Sho Nuff Village Recorder, LA; Southside Studio, Atlanta, GA; The Grind House, Adamsville, GA; The Lab, New York, NY; The Record Plant, LA.
Photographer: James White .
SWEATSUIT brings together on one album all of the hits from Nelly's dual releases SWEAT and SUIT, both of which went multi-platinum. Cherry-picking the hits from both albums, SWEATSUIT includes the Neptunes-produced infidelity anthem "Play It Off," "Over and Over" with Tim McGraw," and the funky, mid-tempo "Playa," featuring Mobb Deep and Missy Elliott. This "recent greatest hits" set nicely represents Nelly's sultry, sing-songy pop-rap, with its debt to both classic R&B and contemporary hip-hop. Three new tracks, including the single "Grillz" (with guest spots by Paul Wall and Ali), are added bonuses.
One of the wiser re-releases of the 2005 holiday season, Nelly's Sweatsuit compiles the best moments of his Sweat and Suit albums from a year earlier, and it adds four new songs as well. The end result is the album that should have been released initially -- from a consumer standpoint, at least. Of course, savvy listeners made their own Sweatsuits, using iTunes to resequence the best songs from Sweat and, in particular, Suit into a solid, well-balanced, smoothly mixed listen. Those people won't have any need for this official Sweatsuit. The new songs are unexceptional (and not entirely new, some of them available elsewhere) and the sequencing is poor (frontloading the singles and randomly scrambling the rest, which makes for a jagged flow). But for those who don't already own Sweat or Suit, Sweatsuit is an economical means of picking up the many highlights of those albums in one purchase. It's a wise re-release, and one wishes it would have been available a year earlier for the sake of cash-strapped fans who felt ambivalence toward the prospect of buying two spotty, relatively brief albums when a single-disc, 80-minute one like this would have offered more value. In any event, the release of Sweatsuit is better late than never, not unlike an apology. ~ Jason Birchmeier