| Heartland | |
| Type: | studio |
| Cover: | Nelly - Heartland.png |
| Alt: | The cover consists of a drawing that combines a red baseball cap and a brown cowboy hat with the St. Louis Cardinals logo on it. |
| Artist: | Nelly |
| Length: | 26:30 |
| Prev Title: | M.O. |
| Prev Year: | 2013 |
Heartland is the eighth studio album by American rapper Nelly and his first album in eight years. It was released on August 27, 2021, via Columbia Records. It features guest appearances from Florida Georgia Line, Blanco Brown, Breland, Chris Bandi, City Spud, Darius Rucker, George Birge, Jimmie Allen and Kane Brown. The album peaked at number 45 on the US Billboard 200 and at number 37 in Canada.
On August 24, 2021, Nelly performed "High Horse" with Breland and Blanco Brown on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.[1] On September 1, he performed "Lil Bit" with Florida Georgia Line on CMT Crossroads.[2]
AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine critiqued that Nelly's lone solo track "5 Drinks Ago" seems to underscore how he fades in the background of his own album, but concluded that: "Nevertheless, the mini-album does precisely what it intended to do: it's a chill time, perfect for pop, country, or hip-hop playlists or anything in between." Louis Pavlakos of Exclaim! felt that the record works best when it delivers "radio-friendly bangers ("High Horse")" and is a mixed bag when utilizing modern country music conventions, criticizing "Someone Somewhere" and "Follow Me" for their lackluster "uplifting nature" but praised "5 Drinks Ago" for Nelly's vulnerability and being able to deliver the genre on his own. He concluded that: "Heartland probably won't make a mark outside of major cities in the U.S., but it's still Nelly's best album in over a decade, mainly because it takes risks he hadn't taken since his Country Grammar era. It may be far from perfect, but a reinvigorated Nelly is a welcome addition to an already stacked year in hip hop."
In the United States, Heartland debuted at number 45 on the Billboard 200 with 13,000 album-equivalent units.[3] It serves as Nelly's first album to debut in the top-ten of the Top Country Albums, reaching number seven on the chart.[3]
| Position | ||
| US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[4] | 76 |
|---|