St. Lunatics was an American hip hop group formed in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Missouri, in 1993. The group consisted of childhood friends

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

, Ali,

Murphy Lee Torhi Harper (born December 18 1979), better known by his stage name Murphy Lee, is an American rapper, best known as a member of the hip hop group St. Lunatics. His debut album, '' Murphy's Law'', peaked at number 8 on the ''Billboard'' 200 m ...

, Kyjuan,

City Spud Lavell Webb (born August 31, 1975) known by his stage name City Spud, is an American rapper and record producer. He was a member of Hip hop music, hip hop group St. Lunatics. He was featured on fellow St. Lunatic member Nelly's hit single "Ride ...

, and Slo Down.

Career

After graduating from high school, the band members were working day jobs in the service industry or attending college. St. Lunatics' first local independent hit was "Gimme What U Got", released in 1996. In 1997, DJ Kut on The Beat FM started playing the single locally, generating interest in the group. In 2000, Nelly was signed to

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

, followed by the rest of the group. While Nelly was working on his solo album ''

Country Grammar ''Country Grammar'' is the debut studio album by American rapper and singer Nelly. It was released on June 27, 2000, by Universal Records. The production on the album was handled by Jason "Jay E" Epperson, with additional production by C-Love, K ...

'', City Spud was arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison for robbery. After Nelly's breakthrough success in 2000, St. Lunatics released their debut album, '' Free City''. In 2001, the singles "Summer in the City" and "Midwest Swing" were released. ''Free City'' was certified Platinum in the United States and Gold in Canada. In 2002, Ali issued his solo album ''

Heavy Starch ''Heavy Starch'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Ali of St. Lunatics. It was released on April 30, 2002, via Universal Records. The album features guest appearances from fellow St. Lunatics members Kyjuan, Murphy Lee, & Nelly, St. L ...

'' while

published '' Murphy's Law'' in 2003. Murphy later launched his own label, UC ME Entertainment. Nelly went on to have a successful solo career and in 2011, he partnered with St. Louis-based

Vatterott College Vatterott College was a for-profit career training institute with programs at 16 campuses across the Midwest of the United States and online. It was operated by Vatterott Educational Centers, Inc., owned by the private equity firm TA Associates. ...

to open a music production school in downtown St. Louis, called Ex'treme Institute (E.I.). In 2009, St. Lunatics were reportedly working on a new album, ''City Free'', to be released that summer. The album was postponed until 2011. A song titled "St. Lunatics" was leaked in early March 2009, along with "Get Low 2 Da Flo", which was produced by Play-N-Skillz. The first official single released from the album was "Money Talks", featuring rapper Birdman. The second official single released from the album was "Polo".

Discography

Studio albums

Compilations

Singles

References

Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups from St. Louis Midwest hip hop groups American hip hop groups {{US-hiphop-band-stub