Kelly Rowland once texted Nelly using Excel on her phone, but it’s still a mystery
Does anybody remember Nelly’s 2002 hit ‘Dilemma’ ft. Kelly Rowland?
Was that really twenty-two years ago?! 😳
Having amassed an astonishing 1.5B+ views and 8M+ likes, it’s one of the most popular music YouTube videos ever, despite only being uploaded to Nelly’s channel in 2009.
The song depicts a story of two people attracted to each other yet challenged by obstacles in their relationship, including existing commitments and obligations.
At 3:13, Rowland flips open a Nokia 9210 Communicator to reveal a ‘text message’ written in what appears to be Microsoft Excel.
It reads:
“WHERE YOU AT? HOLLA WHEN YOU GET THIS”
If you search for this news story, you’ll see virtually every source claiming Rowland constructed the text using Excel. This is misinformation.
FAKE NEWS! 🫵
For the record, it wasn’t Excel. It was a pre-installed program called EPOC Sheet that ran on the phone’s Symbian operating system. Handily, it was compatible with XLS files, however.
During her recent interview with Mythical Kitchen, Rowland admitted to receiving plenty of flak about this over the years.
Mysteriously, there still isn’t a clear explanation for why the production team gave it the green light. However, the ex-Destiny’s Child member did offer a hint: “It’s just a draft, my dear.”
Was drafting text messages in spreadsheets really a thing back then? 🤔