Interview 1

Nelly: Yea you think you know 'im: The lyrical young gun from St. Louis who's got the country goin' down, down, baby-in a Range Rover. You probably know he shortstop in the St. Louis

Whut'ss Nelly Mean?

Aint no body ever asked, "What does Nelly mean?" Off the chain, I guess Fa'sho

Whats On the Corner of your Block?

That Nigga named Tyrone

Whats Shimmy, Shimmy Cocoa puff all about?

Its like you and your boys, and y'all about five deep into the car, and its just goin' from one nigga to the next, like shimmy, shimmy, cocoa puff, nigga,pass it to me now.

Whats the hottest club in St.Louis?

Right now, Its got to be Club Casino

Whut time did you brush your teeth last night?

I aint even gonna lie to ya. I was so muthafuckin' drunk last night I passed out right here. Its fittin to go down in like five minutes. As soon as i get done talkin' to you, I gotta hop in the shower So its all gravy.

Whuts Not a game?

This motherfuckin' industry. This shit's for real, baby. St. Louis is not a game.

What gets applause?

Nelly. Its all good though. I just apperciate all the love everybody been showin me.

What does a nigga gotta do to get wit' one of dem girls in the "country Grammar" video

Just come down here and tell' em you wit Nelly

Whuts the next question?

I would ask where the fuck is my luggage? My luggage is lost right now.

Whut makes you creative?

Herbal, ganja...

Whuts in 151 waterproof?

That some gasoline right there, mo. You can start your whip wit with that shit there

What Leflaur, eshkoshka?

Oh my goodness... thats some shit you made up

Whuts the best thing about St. Louis?

Right now, the St. muthafuckin Lunatcs, fa'sho

Interview 2

The Source: Y'all could've put out another St. Lunatics album like y'all been doin'. Why was Nelly chosen to release his solo album first?

Murphee Lee: We decided to let Nelly do his thing because it's harder to hear five voices than one. One voice is a lot easier to hear. Nelly went first because that man got everything, the whole package. He got the kids, the girls, everybody respects him. He's hot, he's raw-flat out. He has the whole look, everything. It wasn't no hard decision. So we all supported him. His album is really [St. Lunatics] album. It's just his name on it.

Slo Down: Whe you come out as a group everybody always expects you to break up. Every group has that one shining star that's waiting to go solo and that always causes problems with the rest of the group. Puttin' Nelly out in front has made us stronger as a family. It has worked totally different for us.

The Source: Nelly is the most recogizable of the crew for obvious Sound Scanning reasons. Do You ever think his notoriety could overshadow the collective's attempt to shine?

Murphee Lee:&bsp;elly comin' back to family will bring us all those people who have been feelin' him. That can't do nothin' but help the group as a whole. Most people do start in a group, then someone wants to go solo. We're using a different formula than anybody else has used, so it throws people off. But we figured it would work to our advantage. Yeah, it's differentbut thats how we planned it. Thats how its going to work.

The Source: Nelly, were you comfortable with being the first St. Lunatics to release a solo album?

Nelly: Everybody keep sayin' I pulled away from the group. You never herd us say that one time, that i pulled away or nothin' like that. It was nothin' like "Okay, I'm gona do it this way," or "I'm gonna step out first." We needed to run with something,, y'know what I'm sayin'? Everybody in the group was working on solo albums. It was't like one person made a decision. It was a group effort. We needed to run with something and the timing and everything worked in my advantage. There was never a second thought about it and everybody was supportive.

The Source: Each of you do your share of reading. What books are you reading now?

Ali: We've all been readig this book called A Coversation Gith God [Neale Donald Walsh]. Its a real good book. We all started reading because we were trying to do everything that we caould 'to better ourselves. We wanted to eduacate ourselves. We realized how we didn't take school seriously when we were younger. Now that we are older, we foud ourselces thinking if we had done this and had done that. We decided we wated to do something differet. We started reading so we wouldnt be like the average rap group out here with no guidance. If we do everythig correctly by God's way, we'll succeed.

The Source: Do y'all feel pressure because of Nelly's success?

Slo Down: Fa' sho'. There's lots of pressure.Our backs are against the wall 'cause the first thing people think is that Nelly is a one-hit wonder and now here we go commin' out with a group album. We know people not expecting it to be nothin', and for us to flop.

Murphee Lee: A lot of people expecting to see five Nellys, but we all different. What you get with the St. Lunatics is the whole plate, the vegetables, the fruit, the meat (we don't eat meat, but you'r gonna get it) ad the dessert. Flat out, its all gravy 'cause we like it when our backs are against the wall.

The Source: Why don't you eat meat?

Ali: We all stopped eating meat in '98. Everyoe is a vegetarian except Nelly. He still eats fish. He used to eat everything from the roottie to the toottie-the whole pig. It was hard to get him off the pork. The we had to get him off the hamburgers and chicken. Everyone is more diciplined about what they put in their body. A lot of people are obese 'cause they eat too much. They eat three times a day plus snacks. We all eat one big meal a day. Puttin' food in your body is like