Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr., also known Nelly — the bandage wearing, stomping in his Air Force Ones rapper — is learning just how hot it is messing with the IRS.
According to TMZ, the St. Louis native was nailed with a $2,412,283 federal tax lien this past August, in addition to $149,511 in unpaid state taxes from 2013.
The rapper's recent debt makes him liable to have his assets and property seized by the IRS.
But fans and celebrities alike are coming to the rescue to round up funds.
TMZ reported that sources close to Nelly say that he is working with tax authorities to resolve this issue. But Team Nelly is not letting up with the Country Grammar rapper through the inspired hashtag, #SaveNelly.
SPIN writer, Brian Joseph has come up with a clever way to make some money for the rapper by crowdsourcing.
According to the streaming service Spotify, the payout for artists “per stream” averages between $0.006 and $0.0084. Based on Joseph’s calculations, Nelly classics, such as “Hot in Herre,” and “Ride Wit Me,” would have to be streamed an estimated 287 million times on the maximum end of the scale, to make ends meet for Nelly.
As of Friday afternoon, "Hot in Herre,” which had made its way to No. 61 on the hip-hop iTunes charts, racked up at least 60,663,019 Spotify plays.
The Political Edit put on a Nelly Sound Drive event on Thursday to continue the stream at Capitol South Metro Station.
The Late Show and The Late Late Show used their late-night slates to highlight the movement. Colbert, sampling the “Hot in Herre” beat to teach Nelly about fiscal responsibilities, and Corden, installed a button in the studio to play “Hot in Herre”, which according to SPIN, cost the show $6,000 per play.