--- title: Nelly: People Try to SaveNelly By Streaming Hot in Herre description: Nelly is reportedly in over $2 million in debt, but there'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 "Hot in Herre" 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&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Hair Show Weekend With K. Michelle And Nelly og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Fans Are Streaming "Hot in Herre" 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&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Nelly Fans Unite to #SaveNelly By Streaming 'Hot in Herre' > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## 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)  _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._  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Sep 13, 2016 8:50 PM UTC  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  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## 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) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4490160/savenelly-spotify-nelly/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4490160/savenelly-spotify-nelly/"},"headline":"Nelly Fans Unite to #SaveNelly By Streaming 'Hot in Herre'","datePublished":"2016-09-13T20:50:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:38.715Z","description":"\"You owe him\"","url":"https://time.com/4490160/savenelly-spotify-nelly/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","Music","Spotify","celebrity"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltffd9c5abf8e513dd/6988a5ddbc6cfc5af33de8f5/nelly-irs-debt-spotify.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltffd9c5abf8e513dd/6988a5ddbc6cfc5af33de8f5/nelly-irs-debt-spotify.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Hair Show Weekend With K. 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