Unlike most rappers from the early 2000s, Nelly still seems to be doing quite well. 

He constantly fills up venues at shows and has even waded into country music waters by working with the group Florida Georgia Line.

Not only that, he sold half of his catalog to HarbourView Equity Partners for a cool $50 million.

But to make it to this point, the 49-year-old said he had to survive a difficult part of his career when he was a new artist.

 

 

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"You gotta understand, my era of music was the toughest era in Hip Hop ever. Ever," said Nelly on Lebron James' HBO show The Shop. "When I put out songs, I had to go against DMX, JAY-Z, Eminem, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Luda. All of us are fighting for one spot. So from '99 to 2008-2010, it’s the hardest era ever to get records."

Would you call Nelly's era of music the toughest?