It's getting hot in herre, but the only thing coming off is the gloves.
Nelly's newest business venture, an energy drink called Pimp Juice, is taking some heat from angry African-American groups who resent the alleged glorification of a pimp lifestyle.
"Nelly is selling out because he only cares about making money, just like pimps and drug pushers. We intend to chase Nelly's Pimp Juice out of the black community," Najee Ali, executive director of Project Islamic Hope, told AllHipHop.com. "Any store that carries this product will be targeted for boycotts," said Ali.
Ali's organization has been joined by the National Alliance for Positive Action, the National Black Anti-Defamation League and the Messianic Afrikan Nation.
Named after a hit single on his 2002 multiplatinum album Nellyville, Pimp Juice is a bright green beverage promoted to "help you party all night long and give you that added edge in the game." A blend of apple juice, guarana, taurine and multiple vitamins, the drink purportedly mixes well with numerous vodkas, according to a press release.
That party-hearty image came under fire in an email statement from a North Carolina minister, the Reverend Paul Scott of the Messianic Afrikan Nation, who said, "The black community is in danger, right now. As black men we should be building a nation of strong black leaders, not a nation of super-energized, drunk pimps."
Calls to Nelly's reps were not returned.
However, the president of Nelly's management team, Demetrius Denham of Team Lunatics, says the critics have it all wrong, because the term "pimp" has a whole new meaning for young people. "I think it's a word that has changed significance over the last 10 to 15 years," Denham told BET.com. "Nelly intended [the term to describe] your edge. It's your way of turning a negative into a positive."
The rapper provided his own explanation when announcing the launch of the beverage. "Pimp Juice is anything [that] attract[s] the opposite sex," said Nelly. "It could be money, fame, or straight intellect; it don't matter! Pimp Juice is color blind; you find it works on all colors, creeds and kinds; from ages 50 right down to nine."
At the time, he also announced plans to donate a part of the proceeds to his philanthropic organization, 4Sho4Kids.
His detractors may be fighting a losing PR battle against the civic-minded superstar, who talks a tough game but wears his heart on his sleeve. Nelly recently organized a bone-marrow donor drive in an effort to find a match for his sister, Jacqueline Donahue, who suffers from leukemia and raise the number of registered donors.
Nelly was also the first rapper to participate in promoting that other energy drink, milk. He donned a white 'stache for a "Got Milk?" ad to encourage youngsters to guzzle the nutrient-rich drink.