''M.O.'' is the seventh

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American rapper

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and embarked on his musical career in 1993 as a member of the Midwest hip hop g ...

Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...

released the album on September 30, 2013, as the follow-up to his sixth album, '' 5.0'' (2010). Its lead single, " Hey Porsche", was released on February 19, 2013, and peaked at number 42 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

. " Get Like Me", featuring

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

and

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

, premiered online on June 18, 2013, and was released on July 2, 2013 as the album's second single. The album features

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s from Nicki Minaj, Pharrell,

Future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ex ...

T.I. Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper and singer raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris is credited as a pioneer of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgi ...

Daley Daley, originally an Irish family name derived from the Gaelic Ó Dálaigh, as a surname, may refer to: People Given name * Daley Blind (born 1990), Dutch footballer * Daley Mena (born 1985), Colombian footballer * Daley Ojuederie (born 1985), p ...

2 Chainz Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (formerly Tity Boi), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip-hop duo Playaz Ci ...

Trey Songz Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer and songwriter. After being discovered by record producer Troy Taylor (record producer), Troy Taylor in 2003, Songz ...

Fabolous John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), known professionally as Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition for his ability upon performing live on DJ Clue's WQHT, Hot 97 radio show. Jackson then signed ...

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and actor. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he signed with the local independent label Rostrum Records to re ...

Florida Georgia Line Florida Georgia Line was an American country music duo founded in 2010 by vocalists and songwriters Tyler Hubbard of Georgia and Brian Kelley of Florida. Their 2012 debut single " Cruise" broke two major sales records: it was downloaded over ...

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado ( , ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 45 million records, including 35 million in album sales worldwide, making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. Critics have noted ...

and

Yo Gotti Mario Sentell Giden Mims (born May 19, 1981), known professionally as Yo Gotti, is an American rapper, singer, and record executive. Rooted in Memphis rap, he released five independent albums—''Youngsta's on a Come Up'' (1996), ''From da Dope ...

. ''M.O.'' moderately entered the ''Billboard'' 200 — debuting and peaking at number 14 — and was met with mixed critical response. It remains Nelly's final album styled in

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

Background and recording

On July 3, 2011, Nelly made a public announcement on ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'' that he was recording a new album. On January 10, 2012, it was announced that Nelly would be working with producer

Dr. Dre Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founder of ...

on new music, presumably for his seventh studio album. On January 15, 2012, Nelly announced via

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that he was working with singers

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

and producer Noel "Detail" Fisher on his new album. On July 3, 2012, he announced that the album would be titled ''M.O.''. In August 2012, in an interview with ThisIs50.com, Nelly confirmed that

Akon Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon (), is a Senegalese-United States, American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, businessman, and philanthropist. An influ ...

and the St. Lunatics will appear on the album. On August 10, 2012, Nelly posted a photo on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

of himself and producer

Mike Will Made It Michael Len Williams II (born March 23, 1989), known professionally as Mike Will Made It (often stylized as Mike WiLL Made-It) or simply Mike Will, is an American record producer. He is best known for producing trap beats for several Southern hi ...

in a recording studio working on new material for the album. On July 7, 2013, it was announced that the album would be released on September 30, 2013. On September 4, 2013, the album cover was released. On September 10, 2013, the final track listing was released revealing

s on the album from

Pharrell Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

and

. In September 2013, during an interview with ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' Nelly spoke about why he titled the album ''M.O.'', saying: "First of all, I’m excited that I get a chance to do a seventh album. aughs.Also, being 14 years later ince Country Grammar was released being able to do a lot of great things in 14 years and represent somewhere that a lot of people don’t get to represent, especially in the music business and definitely in the hip-hop game. I stand for the Midwest. That’s why the album’s titled ''M.O.'', ‘cause I’m still holding it down like that. My friends and family all call me Mo, so it’s kind of like really representing where I’m from and me at the same time."

Singles

On July 3, 2012, Nelly announced via Twitter that the title of the album's first promotional single would be "Marry Go Round". The Da Internz-produced track features Chris Brown and premiered in full online on July 4, 2012. On February 19, 2013, the album's first single " Hey Porsche" was released. On March 1, 2013, the music video was released for "Hey Porsche". On July 2, 2013, the album's second single " Get Like Me" featuring

and

was released. On July 31, 2013, the music video was released for "Get Like Me" featuring Pharrell and Nicki Minaj. On September 2, 2013, the album's third single "Heaven" featuring

was released. On October 3, 2013, with the album in stores, Nelly appeared on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' to perform the Pharrell-produced song, "Rick James" alongside

In December 2013, "Rick James" will be sent to urban contemporary radio in the United States as the album's fifth single.

Critical reception

''M.O.'' was met with generally mixed reviews from

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

s. David Jeffries of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

gave the album three out of five stars, saying "Even if Nelly had his most successful single in years with 2010's "Just a Dream," his defining numbers go back over a decade before this 2013 release, with "Country Grammar" landing in 2000 and the massive "Hot in Herre" dropping in 2002. The serene and smooth "Just a Dream" was also an odd duck for the party-time rapper as he always seemed more comfortable popping bottles and dropping drawers, so the semi-sweet ''M.O.'' splits the difference, dropping "Just a Dream" sequels like the uplifting "Heaven" with Daley, and the less-successful "Headphones" with Nelly Furtado, a rap-by-numbers "we need something that sounds like B.o.B's '

Airplanes An airplane (American English), or aeroplane (Commonwealth English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, ...

'" track." Chris Mench of '' XXL'' gave the album an M, saying "In the end, ''M.O.'' simply fails to excite or innovate. It’s a serviceable enough album, one that may have been good if it had been released in 2004. However, not only does it not break new ground, but it has a pervasive sense of playing catch-up. It’s as if Nelly knows he’s lost the public’s ear and is trying desperately to get it back. Unfortunately for him the album fails to do so, and ''M.O.'' remains a disappointment for a rapper who was once among the most recognizable entities in hip-hop." Caryn Ganz of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' gave the album two out of five stars, saying "Nelly's seventh album opens strong with a brilliantly chill Nicki Minaj cameo on a gloriously narcotic Pharrell track ("Get Like Me") and a characteristically romantic turn from Future ("Give U Dat"), but wraps weakly with a jangly jam featuring country duo Florida Georgia Line and a cheesy ballad with Nelly Furtado." Rick Florino of

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gave the album five out of five stars, saying "''M.O.'' ebbs and flows with dynamics rarely seen in hip-hop. That's what makes it such a well-rounded listen overall. Ultimately, it's a milestone for Nelly, and that's saying a lot. He's not stopping anytime soon either."

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 14 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with first-week sales of 15,000 copies in the United States. In its second week, the album sold 5,000 more copies. In its third week, the album sold 3,000 more copies bringing its total album sales to 23,000.

Track listing

Notes * (*) signifies a co-producer * The track order is sequenced differently on physical and digital releases.

Chart positions

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:M.O. 2013 albums Nelly albums Republic Records albums Albums produced by Pharrell Williams Albums produced by Detail (record producer) Albums produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League Albums produced by Andrew Roettger