If you’ve missed Nelly, don’t worry because you’re about to get a double dose of the rapper, who’s planning to release two albums this year—one with his group the St. Lunatics (City Free, July 27) and a new solo album called Nelly 5.0. The follow-up to 2008’s Brass Knuckles is shaping up to be another star-studded fest with appearances from T.I., Diddy, Akon, Kelly Rowland, and more. staging-rapup.kinsta.cloud caught up with the Midwest MC in the Big Apple for an exclusive update on the project.

Who are you working with?
I got some talented producers like Dr. Luke and Polow Da Don. I got my man Rico Love. I got Smash Factory, which is T.I.’s production company. Me and Tip did a joint that was crazy. I got Don Vito again featured on the album. I got Murphy Lee, Puff’s on the album. My little brother City [Spud] is on the album.

What’s the first single and when is it dropping?
We’re actually about to release the first single in a week or two. It’s called “Tippin’ in the Club.”

Why did you call the album Nelly 5.0?
It’s a lot of things. It’s also my fifth drop date. It’s just the energy of it all. [The Mustang] 5.0 was always one of my dream cars. As soon as I had enough money to buy one of these mothafuckers, they stopped making these shits. It was just like, “Ahhh!” You know in Menace II Society when he jacked that ride? And then they came back… That was like the ultimate scene. I always wanted one of them mothafuckers, money green. But when I got a chance, they stopped making them. I had this meeting with Ford where they asked me these random questions about cars and I just got to talking it up. I was like, “Why ya’ll ain’t brought back the 5.0 Mustang? That shit was hot!”

So they listened to you?
It’s back. They was like boom! I always send a shout-out to Ford because here you are, you’re talking about an icon in the motor industry, like the Donald Trump of this shit when it comes to that, and here they are listening to Nelly. They took a chance on that shit, so I think it’s incredible.

–Rajul Punjabi