Nelly blends hip-hop, heartland for 33,700 fans at NYS Fair (concert review, photos)

Nelly played a lil’ bit of everything for a whole lot of people at the Great New York State Fair.

The Texas-born, St. Louis-raised rapper blended hip-hop classics with heartland country favorites for 33,713 fans at Chevy Park on Wednesday night. It’s the fifth largest crowd in NYS Fair concert history and the largest so far this year.

Nelly casually strutted on stage at 8:10 p.m., opening his show strong with rap hits “E.I.,” “Shake Ya Tailfeather” and “Air Force Ones.” He thanked everyone who’s supported him since Day 1, throwing it back to “Country Grammar” and “Ride Wit Me” — and sped up his delivery as the DJ mixed in faster beats to build the energy.

“Syracuse, New York, it’s truly an honor and a privilege to be here,” he said.

He also knows a large portion of his Upstate New York fans appreciate his country side, so he was happy to throw in his remix of Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” and a few tracks from his upcoming new album, “Heartland.” The crowd happily sang along with the call-and-response chorus of “Someone, Somewhere,” heard him call himself “the black Tom Brady” on his new Florida Georgia Line collaboration “Lil Bit,” and danced to his latest single “High Horse,” featuring Blanco Brown of “The Git Up” fame.

It felt like a little too much new music, though, so Nelly had to win everyone back with a performance of “Over and Over,” his 2004 smash crossover hit with Tim McGraw.

Still, a lot of rap fans just wanted more throwback hits they could shake their tailfeathers to. So the DJ switched back to party mode, mixing in early 2000s favorites like “Right Thurr” (Chingy), “Tipsy” (J-Kwon) and “Get Low” (Lil Jon). Nelly also paid tribute to rappers who passed away in recent months, performing snippets of career-inspiring songs by Biz Markie (”Just a Friend”), Digital Underground’s Shock G (”The Humpty Dance”) and DMX (”Ruff Ryders Anthem” / “Party Up”).

Nelly then turned up the heat with “Hot in Herre,” and topped off the nearly 90-minute set with the Kelly Rowland collaboration “Dilemma.” Sure, it was a little too chilly tonight for anyone to take off all their clothes, but Nelly, even when we’re with our boo you know we’re crazy over you.