Nelly in “Hot in Herre” video (Universal Motown Records)
Rapper Nelly found himself owing more than $2 million in taxes, and now fans have begun a #HotInHerreStreamingParty to help. The charitable MC often awards college scholarships to youth in his native Missouri.
But the charity is now coming to him.
Fans learned Nelly needed more than 280 million Spotify streams to pay the Internal Revenue Service, and they rushed to make it happen.
TMZ reported Sunday the federal government issued a $2,412,283 tax lien against Nelly in August. The huge sum means the IRS could seize the rapper’s property and assets. In addition to this repayment, Nelly reportedly needs to give $149,511 in taxes to his home state.
Spin magazine crunched the numbers and based on streaming payout data from Spotify, there may be a solution. If Nelly earns $.0084 per stream – the highest amount over the lowest of $0.006 – fans could help him pay his debt in 287,176,547 streams.
The music publication acknowledged those earnings have to be divided among Nelly, record labels and song publishers. But if those groups are lenient, it could work.
Twitter immediately showed up for the task.
Users launched the#HotInHerreStreamingParty to play Nelly’s 2002 hit single “Hot in Herre.”
Then, they shared their experience on social media.
Tweeting a GIF of young Drake, Zolee shared she forgot “how much of a bop” the song was.
https://twitter.com/Zoleeofficial/status/775594932882989057
Kodak Blue donned an old-school Nelly accessory for the streaming party.
Bandaids out for Nelly!#HotInHerreStreamingParty pic.twitter.com/iwbKw3AqXA
— Virgil Cent (@Soul_Brother13) September 13, 2016
ORTEASY took the time to recognize the 20th anniversary of rap legend Tupac Shakur’s death. But then told others to stream Nelly’s song to “do your part as a human being.”
RIP Tupac, a man way ahead of his time.
But don't forget about #HotInHerreStreamingParty do your part as a human being.— ORTEASY (@alexisorteasy) September 13, 2016
Dewayne shared he was playing “Hot in Herre” on repeat for a biblical length of time.
Putting "Hot in Herre" on repeat on Spotify for the next 40 days and 40 nights..
— Dewayne (@news11) September 12, 2016
Wendell Reese used a GIF of a fired-up Iyanla Vanzant to show his support.
Nelly might go bankrupt?#HotInHerreStreamingParty pic.twitter.com/mAclK3Lofq
— Wendell Reese (@CoachDiesel) September 13, 2016
And one user focused on themselves. @DropaJewel wondered how streams could help with school loans.
@SPINmagazine how many streams do I need to pay off sallie mae?
— St. Cecilia (@DropaJewel) September 12, 2016
The #HotInHerreStreamingParty can be streamed below.
I made a playlist of 8 hours of Hot in Herre for you to play while you sleep #DoItForNelly https://t.co/tCMxk2tkEx
— Samir Mezrahi (@samir) September 13, 2016
