Nelly’s video for “Let It Go Lil Mama” is, amazingly, a single from Brass Knuckles, an album released (and immediately ignored) last September. So why bring it up at all? Well, frankly, we were suckered in by the black-and-white video, the presence of Pharrell, and the pretty good minimalist beat. As you’ll recall, the exact same ingredients made for an awesome career-rejuvenating single for Snoop back in 2004. So how’d it go this time? Not so good! The beat — mostly tinny-on-purpose drums and some angry-sounding bass knocks — isn’t that bad. But Nelly is, of course, still Nelly, so bland that he even fails us in his mediocrity. There’s not even a so-lame-it’s-funny rhyme amid his retreaded braggadocio.
