What happened to Nelly on stage? Artist's antics at Juicy Fest spark hilarious reactions online

A video of rapper Nelly performing at the 2023 Juicy Fest in Melbourne, Australia, is going viral for his visible antics. The artist was headlining the festival and performing his 2004 hit country number Over and Over when he started making strange expressions.

In videos of his performance shared online, Nelly's eyes can be seen rolling back multiple times and he can be seen smiling strangely, all while singing out the lyrics of his song. The Grillz artist was announced as the headliner of the festival alongside artists Ne-Yo and Ja Rule.

Instagram user @akira.nibbai, who first shared the video of the artist online, captioned the video as:

"Nelly caught in 4K absolutely cooked outta his mind at Juicyfest Melbourne, my front row vip view. Still love you Nelly."

JuicyFest will conclude on January 20. The lineup also features other artists, including Bow Wow, Xzibit, Mya, Pretty Ricky, Twista, Chingy, and Lloyd.

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Twitterati have a ball while reacting to Nelly’s 2023 Juicy Fest performance

Netizens took to their social media handles to react to Nelly’s video after it went viral. Most speculated that the artist was under some kind of substance influence. Some also had rather hilarious reactions, noting that the Hot in Herre singer was rolling his eyes back to 2003.

For the unversed, the artist won the Grammy Award for 'Best Male Rap Solo Performance' category in 2003 for his song Hot in Herre. The following year, he won another Grammy for the 'Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group' category for his single Shake Ya Tailfeather.

While the artist did not directly address the video that was posted online, he posted an Instagram Story, thanking his Australian fans for showing up at the festival, writing:

“Sh*t’s been amazing, and I can’t wait to finish out strong.”

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Multi-Grammy award winner Nelly's latest studio album was Heartland, which arrived in 2021. At the time of its release, the artist described the album as being “country-inspired.”

Over and Over was the singer's first country project and featured Tim McGraw. He said that he was interested in country music ever since Over and Over's release in 2004 and the success it received. The song had peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 100.

In an interview with Billboard, the artist had said:

“Just because I had success with one song, does that mean I should put a whole album out? I was still kind of unclear about certain things — and the last thing I wanted to do was offend anybody by thinking I know something about a certain genre of music, just because I’ve had success in it once.”

He further added:

“I never wanted to take that for granted. And after doing 'Cruise,' and doing my homework to get more familiar with Nashville and everything, it became a lot easier to know how to navigate and create this project, to bring it to fruition.”

The album features nine tracks and has guest appearances from artists including Kane Brown, Tyler Hubbard, Blanco Brown, Chris Bandi, City Spud, and Darius Rucker of Hootie & The Blowfish.

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In 2014, the artist was ranked as the fourth best-selling rap artist in American music history, according to RIAA, with 21 million albums sold in the United States. He was ranked at number three on the Top Artist of the Decade (2000s) list in 2009.