Nelly has been arrested on drug related charges.

The rapper was in Tennessee when the smell of marijuana was recognised as coming from his bus. It was pulled over and searched and "a plastic bag that contained five rocks that tested positive for methamphetamine, as well as a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia" was found on board.

After being picked up by the Police, Nelly was later charged with felony possession of drugs, simple possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia and was taken to Putnam County Jail. Not long after that he was released after making bail.

Nelly, real name Cornell Haynes is certainly not the first rapper or indeed musician to be caught with drugs and he most definitely will not be the last. The worrying thing is the message that incidents like this send out to impressionable people in society.

It would be silly to think that Nelly alone has a massive effect but he is one piece in the hip hop jigsaw that glorifies this culture of drugs and violence. Even the fact that he managed to buy his way out of jail plays into the stereotype.

There have been many other similar cases recently most notably with Justin Bieber who was arrested under similar drug related charges. This case was even more alarming given the average age of Bieber’s fans and how obsessive they are over the object of their affection.

It will be a surprise if Nelly ends up in any serious trouble with the law over this incident and the message that this is sending out seems to be clear; if you are rich and powerful enough, it doesn’t matter what you do.