Nelly has recalled a remarkable anecdote about the day Taylor Swift reportedly wired him a substantial sum to make a quick cameo on one of her live shows.
During a recent appearance on The Breakfast Club, the rapper, born Cornell Haynes Jr., described how the Shake It Off artist called him one night "out of the blue" and asked whether he would be willing to join a forthcoming performance.
According to Nelly, Taylor and a circle of friends had choreographed a routine to his 2002 hit Hot in Herre and hoped to unveil it for the audience.
"Now, I’m in St. Louis, and she’s in Houston," he recalled. "She said, ‘I got two shows in Houston tomorrow and the next day. Can you come down to Houston and just perform it? I don’t wanna disrespect you. I don’t really have a budget like that.’"
The hip-hop star went on to recount how Taylor offered to fly him on her private jet.
"Now, listen to her. She says she doesn’t really have a budget. But she said, ‘What I will do is send my plane. I’ll get your room and all of that. And we only have like $50,000.’ I said, ‘Can you put that in a McDonald’s bag?’ I said, ‘But I would’ve done it for free,’" the 51-year-old exclaimed.
Straight after the performance, Taylor’s manager "tossed" Nelly a McDonald’s takeaway bag filled with cash.
"I was like, ‘Oh, no s**t! OK, cool.’ Now, the money wasn’t really the issue. But she was just like, ‘Yo, the jet is there whenever you’re ready.’ And she got us the presidential suite right there. I think it was the Four Seasons, right there by the stadium. Had the whole top floor. We never even saw the room. We went from the show right back to the airport, or whatever the case may be."
Representatives for Taylor have not yet commented on the account.
The Ride wit Me star and the Opalite singer performed Hot in Herre along with the Haim sisters at a 1989 World Tour concert in September 2015.
