‘Dancing With the Stars’: Nelly Will Dance to One of His Own Songs in Season 29 Premiere

Nelly will be breaking it down to one of his most famous songs as he steps into the Dancing With the Stars ballroom for Season 29 on Monday, Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. ET. The rapper told Entertainment Tonight Thursday that he will be dancing the Salsa to one of his most famous hits, “Ride Wit Me” as the ABC show kicks off, paying tribute to his debut album, Country Grammar in 2000.

“The first song I’ll be dancing to is ‘Ride Wit Me,’ and doing my own music is mixed emotions for me,” he told the outlet. “On one hand I’m very thankful that they’re using my music, but on the other hand it’s like, ‘I came here to dance and not really be Nelly, but to bring Nelly to a different genre.’ But I’m game, so we’ll see what happens!”

Nelly wasn’t the one to pick his own song, as he admitted, “If it were left up to me I probably would not be dancing to my own music, because if I want to dance to my own music I’ll go do shows.” But ballroom dancing is “definitely different” than anything else he’s experienced in his career, he said after just a “couple” of rehearsals with his pro partner, who has yet to be announced.

“I think the first day I was like, ‘What the hell am I doing?’ It was definitely one of those [days], but the more and more I’ve gotten into it, my partner — my inspiration, my coach — is very good,” he continued. “I think to put up with me in a certain situation of, ‘Are you sure? I don’t know if we’re going to get this step,’ that’s me. She’s just nailing it home, like, ‘Yo, you can do this.’”

Nelly’s partner has been providing constant encouragement, he added, which has made him more comfortable in the ballroom quickly. “I’m a very confident person in a sense. I’m also a Scorpio so I believe that we can do anything. And I think that may have gotten me into this situation,” the rapper said, adding he is “not shying away” from giving the competition 100%.

“I’mma go all out!” he proclaimed. “If you look at me, if you look at my music, I’ve been able to cross all genres. I’ve been able to do a lot of things with my music that a lot of people said I couldn’t do and said I was crazy for when I first did it. Merging hip-hop and country, hip-hop with pop, but having success. I think this is no different, in a sense of thinking outside the box.”