During his recent interview on The Shop, Nelly reflected on how the Grammy Awards show needed to do right by artists and how tough it was to get recognized around the time he emerged in 2000. Nelly came onto the scene like a bat out of hell with his debut album titled Country Grammar, which spawned three top 20 Billboard Hot 100 singles, and he had a strong argument for best new artist.

However, as Nelly explained on The Shop, he wasn’t even nominated in that category at the Grammys, which Alicia Keys won. Pair that with Nelly competing with rap titans such as JAY-Z, Eminem, DMX, and more in the hip-hop space, and you have the context behind his statement.

“You gotta understand, my era of music was the toughest era in hip-hop ever. Ever! When I put out songs, I had to go against DMX, JAY-Z, Eminem, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Ludacris – all of us are fighting for one spot. So from 99 to like 2008, 10? It’s the hardest era ever.” said Nelly.

One of the hosts of the show, Cedric The Entertainer instantly recalled JAY-Z’s lines from “Excuse Me Miss,” rapping: “Only dudes movin’ units – Em, Pimp Juice and us.” Jay says that Eminem, Nelly and his crew are the only ones selling major amounts of albums. Nelly has a song called “Pimp Juice” which Hov refers to Nelly as.

At the time Eminem’s album The Eminem Show was the No. 1 album in the world until Nelly’s album Nellyville took over. Jigga’s album The Blueprint² The Gift & The Curse was later released in November of that year. Ja Rule responded to Jay’s line in Black Child’s song “Bang Bang Bang” where he tells Hov to check the SoundScan again because Ja Rule was actually selling more albums than him at the time: “For those who check SoundScan / Check again, it’s Rule, Pimp Juice and Eminem / As it’s been since the last three albums I turned in.” raps  Ja.

Check out Nelly’s new interview below. Swipe right for the video.