He still speaks the country grammar, but there's one thing you should know about Nelly and his posse. Beneath the twanging beats, there appear to be a bunch of domestic animals making an emphatic point, but Nelly is undaunted: "Whatcha think, we live on a farm?" he rap-sings indignantly, as the irresistible bobbling groove of 'Midwest Swing' starts to unwind.
As if. For most of his multi-million selling and dozily marvellous 'Country Grammar' debut LP, Nelly and his immature chums St Lunatics found it important to point out, again and again, the excellence of their hometown, St Louis. On this almost-as-fine group debut, they go one further: 'Free City' is a 70-minute commercial from Missouri's hip-hop tourist board. The girls are great, there's plenty of money to be made, the Cardinals have great shirts, you can drive your Jeeps around all night…
And then there's St Lunatics, currently rap's most engaging extended family. There's something improbably good-natured about these low-slung grooves, these minimal bouncing electro rhythms and rhymes about bums. It's perhaps dangerous to portray Nelly, Ali, Kyjuan, Murphy Lee and City Spud as completely cuddly - especially since the latter is currently serving a ten-year stretch (hence the title, 'Free City').
But don't come expecting a protest album. A smooth co-option of The Lovin' Spoonful's 'Summer In The City' is typical of the sunshine and good times underpinning 'Free City' - in fact, most tracks here are inseparable. Even the braggadocio seems motivated less by arrogance, more by pure dopey happiness. Like the poet on the intro suggests, best "Keep it St Louis".
