Fans Come Together to Save Nelly From $2.4 Million Tax Debt
In August, the IRS hit Nelly with a $2.4 million tax lien. Now, fans are coming together to stream his songs as many times as possible in an attempt to help the St. Louis rapper's financial problems.
With that amount of money owed, the IRS could start seizing assets and property. According to the report, Nelly is already working on getting the situation rectified. Still, that’s a lot of money, and as a result, the fans are doing their part on social media and streaming services.
The payout for a Spotify artist “per stream” lands between $0.006 and $0.0084. According to Spin, who did the math, you’ll have to stream a Nelly song 402,880,500 times to make a dent in his $2.4 million tax lien. If Nelly is earning close to $.0084 for each stream, the absolute, best-case scenario would have you listening to "Hot in Herre" 287,176,547 times.
However, the good news is that if fans pool their streams and act collectively, there's a much better chance of helping out the "E.I." artist. The #SaveNelly and #HotInHerreListeningParty phenomenons took Twitter by storm, and some hilarious GIFs and photos ensued. The Country Grammar MC has yet to address the outpouring of love and support from his fans. If you want to join in, just listen to Nelly's records on any streaming service, and take to social media to share with others.
As TMZ reported, the St. Lunatic also has money issues on the local level, as the Missouri Department of Revenue said he still owes $149,511 in unpaid state taxes from 2013.
In more positive news, earlier this summer, Nelly’s debut album Country Grammar became only the ninth rap album to reach certified diamond status. The album dropped back in 2000, and 16 years later reaches the coveted mark of over 10 million records sold. Executives from RIAA awarded Nelly with the diamond plaque on July 26 at the Musicians On Call event in Philadelphia.