Nelly

He was supposed to be a one-hit wonder, droppin’ the playground sounds of “Country Grammar (Hot . . .)” and then fading out of sight. But St. Louis son Nelly had other plans — more than ten years and a sick stash of chart-toppers later, he’s still dominating the rap-pop landscape, taking temps as your own personal dance-floor doctor on the sex-U-up physical “Hot in Herre” (the prescription? take off all your clothes), gettin’ all up in the gleamin’, shout-along flow of “Grillz” (with Paul Wall & Ali & Gipp), and weighing the pros and cons of a slow-jam seduction on another man’s shawty in “Dilemma” with Kelly Rowland.

Nelly takes a swing at the stratosphere on “Batter Up,” and we’ve got more hip-pop home runs on deck in Next Steps.

You can’t hold it down in the heights without an anchor on the ground, and for the man born Cornell Haynes, Jr., that anchor is his hometown. The gateway city is the star in Nelly’s day-in-the-life tribute to “St. Louie” — and after he broke big, the new star made sure to bring his boys with him, rejoining with his early-days crew St. Lunatics for the party-time charter “Midwest Swing.” But while Nelly keeps one foot firmly on home soil, he’s not afraid to go in search of global hip-pop domination with the super-fly sounds of “Tilt Ya Head Back” with Christina Aguilera, and the in-the-club instruction manual “Move That Body” with Akon & T-Pain.

He’s got a sugar-frosted flow that invites participation, a swagger that shows he’s in control, and, when it comes to the ladies, a sensitive soul he just can’t hide. So while Nelly has the power to get it goin’ on with his “must be the money” shout-out “Ride Wit Me” (with City Spud), he’s not afraid to lay his broken heart bare or team with a country superstar on a so-emotional “Over and Over” (featuring Tim McGraw). A pop star who raps — on the dance-floor tongue twister “Na-NaNa-Na” — and a rapper who, well, pops (on Fat Joe’s “Get It Poppin’”), he’s been owning the scene his own way for more than a decade. Now, from the soft-side tear jerker “Just a Dream,” to the move-for-me command of “Shake Ya Tailfeather” with Murphy Lee & P. Diddy, you can posses only the best of Nelly’s pure-pleasure boundary-breakers in one satisfying download.