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---
title: Nelly: People Try to SaveNelly By Streaming Hot in Herre
description: Nelly is reportedly in over $2 million in debt, but there&#x27;s a simple solution to his money issues that his fans can do.
canonical: https://time.com/4490160/savenelly-spotify-nelly/
author: Cady Lang
article:opinion: false
article:content_tier: free
article:published_time: 2016-09-13T20:50:27.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:38.715Z
og:title: Fans Are Streaming &quot;Hot in Herre&quot; Like Crazy to Support Nelly
og:description: The internet unites to #SaveNelly
og:url: https://time.com/4490160/savenelly-spotify-nelly/
og:site_name: TIME
og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltffd9c5abf8e513dd/6988a5ddbc6cfc5af33de8f5/nelly-irs-debt-spotify.jpg?branch=production&amp;width=3840&amp;quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;crop=16:9
og:image:width: 1200
og:image:height: 675
og:image:alt: Hair Show Weekend With K. Michelle And Nelly
og:type: article
twitter:card: summary_large_image
twitter:title: Fans Are Streaming &quot;Hot in Herre&quot; Like Crazy to Support Nelly
twitter:description: The internet unites to #SaveNelly
twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltffd9c5abf8e513dd/6988a5ddbc6cfc5af33de8f5/nelly-irs-debt-spotify.jpg?branch=production&amp;width=3840&amp;quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;crop=16:9
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![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltffd9c5abf8e513dd/6988a5ddbc6cfc5af33de8f5/nelly-irs-debt-spotify.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)


# Nelly Fans Unite to #SaveNelly By Streaming 'Hot in Herre'

<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Rqx0SLHt.m3u8" -->
## Video: How Kendrick Lamar Strives to Make Timeless Rap Albums

[Watch (HLS stream): How Kendrick Lamar Strives to Make Timeless Rap Albums](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Rqx0SLHt.m3u8) (1:32)

![How Kendrick Lamar Strives to Make Timeless Rap Albums](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Rqx0SLHt/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2015-12-09. “I want to continue to have something that’s not microwavable in a world today where our attention span is pretty much lost._


![Cady Lang](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd534f2cb81c3b094/69894087e76ad2e66b633ad3/c_lang.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

by 

[Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)


![Cady Lang](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd534f2cb81c3b094/69894087e76ad2e66b633ad3/c_lang.jpg?branch=production&width=96&quality=75&auto=webp)

## Cady Lang


Sep 13, 2016 8:50 PM UTC

![Hair Show Weekend With K. Michelle And Nelly](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltffd9c5abf8e513dd/6988a5ddbc6cfc5af33de8f5/nelly-irs-debt-spotify.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=3:2)

Nelly attends a party during Hair Show Weekend at Gold Room on August 20, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Prince Williams/WireImage)

Nelly attends a party during Hair Show Weekend at Gold Room on August 20, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Prince Williams/WireImage)Prince Williams—WireImage

![Cady Lang](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd534f2cb81c3b094/69894087e76ad2e66b633ad3/c_lang.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

by 

[Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)


![Cady Lang](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd534f2cb81c3b094/69894087e76ad2e66b633ad3/c_lang.jpg?branch=production&width=96&quality=75&auto=webp)

## Cady Lang


Sep 13, 2016 8:50 PM UTC

[Nelly’s music](http://time.com/4055472/taylor-swift-haim-nelly/) provided the [summer anthems and prom soundtracks of the early-aughts](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,937225,00.html), perhaps most memorably with bangers like “[Hot in Herre](http://time.com/4055472/taylor-swift-haim-nelly/)” and “Ride Wit Me,” but it looks like the artist’s songs could also be the solution to his major financial woes.

Following unsubstantiated reports by TMZ that the _Country Grammar_ rapper owes a large sum to the IRS, [_Spin_](http://www.spin.com/2016/09/nelly-irs-debt/) came up with a clever way to rally behind him; writer Brian Josephs proposed that fans stream “Hot in Herre” at least a collective 287,176,547 times so that Nelly could earn a sizable Spotify payout.

According to the [streaming service](https://www.spotifyartists.com/spotify-explained/) the payout for artists “per stream” averages between $0.006 and $0.0084, which means that if Nelly lands on the minimum end of the scale, he would need 402,880,500 streams to earn enough to significantly decrease the alleged debt.

This proposition inspired the hashtag #SaveNelly, with fans sharing the lengths they were willing to go to support Cornell. If anything, this tells us that the love for Nelly is still going strong.

> [](https://twitter.com/UrbanEngIish/status/775688324384260096)

> [](https://twitter.com/fivefifths/status/775655207594237952)

> [](https://twitter.com/DocZeus/status/775452862050598912)

> [](https://twitter.com/DEdzJr/status/775525227379826689)

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