Back to 2002 with Nelly, Ja Rule, Eve, Chingy, & more in San Diego

The onset of the Millennium brought forth great years in hip hop history. Latent from the mid-90s — basically 1996… the last year hip hop held its head high before a dizzying amount of pop groups held an industry stranglehold — came the resurgence of hip hop greatness with Dre, Snoop, Lil Kim, Jay-Z, Eminem, and so many others dropping new music. This Y2K momentum came with a new wave of names that soon dominated the top of the pop charts throughout the naughts.

One such newcomer was Nelly, catapulting into fame basically overnight with his 2000 solo debut, Country Grammar. Although not an industry name at the time, the LP featured the talents of his St. Lunatics friends — a group he’s been a part of since 1993. Like I said, hip hop was coming back recharged and remastered, with players repackaged and not-so-new to the game. Before the public knew what them, Nelly doubled down with the hits in Nellyville a short two years later. The rest is hip hop history.

When all this went down, I was just starting high school.

This music floods me with memories of boys, dances, BFFs, lockers, and, well, more boys. Life was good, simple. So a concert with a grip of these artists all in one night is like a dream come true, considering how not-so-simple the world is today. Enter, Nelly’s Where The Party At Tour, loaded with familiar artists and friends.

Up first in Chula Vista (a southern suburb of San Diego proper) was Chingy. “Ching-a-ling, equipped with much” party hits (more than you think), appeared onstage all by himself — no hype men, no flashy dancers, no DJ in the back spinnin’. It was just a man and a mic, getting the earlybirds pumped as they filtered into the large-capacity North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre. From chillin’ at the “Holidae Inn” to liking the way she do it “Right Thurr”, Chingy was — by far — the best opening slot the audience could’ve been blessed with.

And up next, in all her glory, was Eve — looking like she hasn’t aged AT ALL.

Dressed in sparkling tights and an oversized jersey, Eve and her emotive backup dancers entertained the crowd with her staples, from “Who’s That Girl?” and “Tambourine” to feature bangers like “Gangsta Lovin'” with Alicia Keys and Gwen Stefani‘s “Rich Girl”. And, of course, she had to give the fans her first collab with Gwen, “Blow Ya Mind”.

If the first two sets were off the hook (sorry not sorry for my antiquated vernacular), the Ja Rule was about to set the roof on Fyre (okay, I’ll stop… and bad joke). In all seriousness, I’ve been an Irv Gotti / Ja Rule girl since Day One and this was the first opportunity I’ve had to see him live.

Rising out from a bed placed stage left, Ja stretched and started his set by getting dressed — an analogy that every day for him is a performance, perhaps? With a deejay spinning in the back, Ja Rule went through “nothin’ but the hits, nothin’ but the hits, nothin’ but the mf hits”… IYKYK. Just saying the first sentence of a song would set the crowd off, for instance, when Ja coyly deepened his bassy voice for “cuz every thug needs a lady”. And he really milked “WHAT’S MY MF NAME?”, asking it thrice for the crowd to scream “R-U-L-E” before launching into his “I’m Real” JLo remix. What a legend.

Without notice, Ja Rule disappeared offstage in the middle of his set, only to reappear walking the amphitheater to meet fans.

Singing “Livin’ It Up” was fitting, considering he was giving his fans an up-close-and-personal experience with a hip hop icon they’ve worshipped for decades. Again, what a legend. Jumping back onstage to finish his set, the whole place was wily through the end of the night.

And there was still the main man Nelly to come. Opening with a scene of a bouncer letting dancing ladies and select fans into “Club Derrrty” onstage, Nelly and friends came out swinging. St. Lunatics like Murphy Lee and Kyjuan helped sing verses for “E.I” and “Ride Wit Me”, with Nelly acknowledging fans in the venue who’s “been with him since Day One” (yours truly included). From “Air Force Ones” to “Shake Ya Tail Feather”, the amphitheater was, indeed, like being in one giant night club. Bringing the energy a little down for his country songs, like the 2004 chart-topper “Over and Over” featuring Tim McGraw, the big energy exploded back up when Nelly had his nephew J-Kwon come out for his home run hit “Tipsy” before Murphy Lee took over with his “Wat Da Hook Gon’ Be” — two huge surprises of the night!!

Ending with “Dilemma”, “Grillz”, and a medley of songs from artists like Lil Jon, Flo Rida, and DMX (side note, there was actually a LOT of love given to DMX this night, among other deceased artists), Nelly left fans with the ultimate (and weather-appropriate, considering the dense humidity) “Hot In Herre” before exiting the stage for the evening.

Photography by Kristy Rose

Share this article

or