NLE Choppa said it was a “full circle moment” performing with Nelly during the 2023 VMAs.
After he shut the stage down with the three-time Grammy winner for their respective versions of “It’s Getting Hot” and “Hot In Herre,” Choppa — born Bryson Potts — exclusively told Pvnew how the epic performance all came together.
“It just simply came about by reaching out to him and just asking,” he told us on the red carpet at the Prudential Center in New Jersey Tuesday night.
“And this was one of the moments he was waiting for — to have with me and we did and we shared the stage and we graced it.”
When asked how he felt to share the stage with someone he looks up to, the “Walk Em Down” rapper, 20, replied, “I feel amazing, you know, full circle moment, generational gap got closed.”
He added, “It’s a beautiful thing for hip hop. It’s iconic.”
Just hours before Nelly — whose real name is Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. — graced the VMAs stage, he confirmed that his romance with singer Ashanti was back on — 10 years after they split.
“Yeah, we cool again,” he shared in a new interview with “Love and Hip Hop” stars Rasheeda and Kirk Frost.
Follow the 2023 VMAs with our up-to-the-minute coverage:
- See all the looks from the red carpet
- VMAs 2023 winners: Complete list with nominees
- VMAs 2023 live updates: See the full list of winners so far
“I think it surprised both of us though. It wasn’t anything that I don’t think was planned.”
Nelly, 48, said that he believes the time he and the “Foolish” singer, 42, spent apart led them back to one another.
“I think we both were pretty much doing what we do, but sometimes being separate you understand one another more,” he said.
“You be like, ‘Yo, let me see exactly what they see.’ You know, because we all can be defensive sometimes in our own relationships. We know we wrong but we going to stand on it. But we all a victim to that.”
As for Ashanti, she confirmed the romance on the VMAs red carpet Tuesday night – by rocking a clutch emblazoned with a throwback photo of the pair from their younger days in the spotlight.
Nelly and Ashanti first began dating in 2003 and were on and off for a decade before calling it quits for good in 2013.
Two years later, the “Dilemma” rapper moved on with Shantel Jackson in 2015, but they split in 2021.
