Former Detroit Rapper Goes Viral For Eerie Resemblance To Nelly

A photo of the late Detroit rapper Blade Icewood has gone viral for looking similar to Nelly. Blade, real name Darnell Lindsey, was a member of the rap group Street Lord’z. They are most known as being part of Detroit’s underground rap scene during the late 1990s and early 2000s. They are also known for their two albums, Platinum Roleez Don’t Tic Toc and Platinum Masterpiece.

Unfortunately, Icewood was killed on April 19, 2005, in a drive-by shooting at a car wash on Detroit’s 7 Mile Road where 17 rounds were fired, according to reports. In May of 2006, a man named Larry Donaldson was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life.

This incident was less than a year after another shooting occurred on Sept. 2004 in Oak Park, MI that had left the rapper Icewood paralyzed from the chest down. Some fans speculate that Icewood’s shooting was in connection to the murder of Wipeout, an Eastside Detroit rapper killed two days earlier. The former Detroit rapper Icewood suggested this in his song “Ride on Me.”

The viral photo of Icewood comes from the Black Detroiters Instagram page. In the photo, you’ll see Icewood then known as Lindsay wearing a Coogi sweater in his senior year of high school. The photo is allegedly from a 1994 Southfield High School "Blue & Gray" yearbook.

The photo has gained the attention of users for the rapper’s resemblance to the artist Nelly. The similarities are hard to miss. You can see it in the eyebrows down to the jawline.

"Lord I thought that was Nelly from The Lou!" one user commented. "So at what point did he become Nelly from St. Louis? Because that’s sure who this is, and nobody can tell me different," another Instagrammer said.