Celebrity
Kelly Rowland Is Still Mad That She Texted Nelly Using Excel In The “Dilemma” Video
“They made me look nuts.”
Kelly Rowland will never live down texting Nelly in the “Dilemma” music video using... Microsoft Excel. On a recent episode of Mythical Kitchen’s Last Meal series, the singer-actor reacted to the now-viral moment, and made it clear that she didn’t understand it either.
Host Josh Scherer introduced Rowland as “the only person in history to successfully send a text message through Microsoft Excel,” which made her chuckle. “Do you know how much flak I get from that?” she asked. “I’m so used to it now.”
In the 2002 video, Rowland types “WHERE YOU AT? HOLLA WHEN YOU GET THIS” on an Excel spreadsheet as if it were a text message, then gets frustrated when her partner doesn’t reply. Somehow, no one questioned it at the time. But in the years since its release, the moment has become a viral meme.
Scherer then asked Rowland if anyone on the video’s set ever flagged the unusual communication method. “No, and I’m actually mad at them that they didn’t because they made me look nuts,” she said. But now, she understands why she never got a response. “What did you expect? Because it’s just a draft, my dear,” she added.
However, the host then pointed out that it actually was possible to send a message through Excel if you hyper-link to an email address, meaning Rowland can actually claim to be a tech pioneer. She simply gave a deadpan look to the camera and quipped, “What he said.”
Nelly previously defended the decision to have Rowland text with Excel in a 2016 interview with The Project. “That was the thing at the time, that was the new technology at the time,” he said, ignoring that no one used that technology to text. “It looks a little dated now, I can see that.”
But no matter what, the technical gaffe didn’t stop “Dilemma” from becoming a career-defining hit. The song reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Rowland’s first number one as a solo artist. It won the Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, also earning a nomination for Record of the Year.
Correction: A previous version of this story misreported Mythical Kitchen’s name. It has been updated with the correct name.
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