"#1" is a song recorded by American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

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 ...

. It was released on August 29, 2001 as the lead single from the soundtrack to the 2001 film '' Training Day''. It was also included on Nelly's second studio album '' Nellyville'' (2002)''.'' The song was most known for igniting the feud between Nelly and

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from the Bronx. He rose to prominence as part of the ...

, for which KRS-One perceived it as a diss for being too similar to "I'm Still #1" by his group,

Boogie Down Productions Boogie Down Productions (BDP) was an American hip-hop group formed in the Bronx, New York City, in 1986. It originally consisted of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27, 1987, five months after the ...

Music video

The music video for the song features Joe Perry of

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

. The plot of the video closely follows '' Training Day'' with Nelly playing a dual role as both

Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, author, and film director. He made his film debut in ''Explorers (film), Explorers'' (1985), before making a breakthrough performance in ''Dead Poets Society'' (1989). Hawke starr ...

and

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles Denzel Washington on screen and stage, on stage and screen, Washington has received List of awards and nominations ...

's characters of a rookie cop and a corrupt veteran cop.

Remix

The official remix features the group

Clipse Clipse, also known as the Clipse, is an American hip-hop, hip hop duo from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Formed in 1994, it consists of brothers No Malice, Gene "Malice" and Pusha T, Terrence "Pusha T" Thornton. Pusha T was known as Terrar during t ...

and Postaboy, and the song is on Nelly's remix album, '' Da Derrty Versions: The Reinvention''.

Track listing

US Promo *1 #1 adio Version 3:19 *2 #1 nstrumental4:08 *3 #1 nstrumental With #1 Chorus4:07 US Vinyl, 12", Promo *A1 #1 lbum Version4:23 *A2 #1 nstrumental4:08 *B1 #1 nstrumental With #1 Chorus4:07 *B2 #1 adio Version3:19

In media and sports

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...

licensed the track for the 2002 sports video game '' Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002'', where it plays as an intro.

Charts

References

Nelly songs 2001 songs 2001 singles Songs written for films Songs written by Nelly Universal Records singles {{2000s-hiphop-song-stub