Nelly managed to make a little history and support the troops battling ISIS on Friday . The St. Louis rapper who shot to fame back in 2000 with his debut album Country Grammar put on a surprise concert for Kurdish fighters battling ISIS in the city of Erbil in Iraq . It was all part of a charity concert put on by the Rwanga Foundation , a non-profit created to help those in the area , and in a press release the group claims that Nelly is now 'the first American artist to perform in the city ’ s 8,000 year old history . ' Scroll down for video . Rapper Nelly performed in Kurdistan on Friday at a benefit concert . The concert was organized by the Rwanga Foundation , a non-profit that was created to help people living in Kurdistan and Iraq . The concert raised money to benefit troops fighting ISIS and those impacted by the recent conflict in the area . The concert was organized to 'promote peace and bring hope to those who need it most ' while also raising money for 'those impacted by the recent conflict in the area . ' It also helped provide funds to the Kurdish military forces fighting ISIS . Also performing was Arab Idol ’ s Ammar Koofy and motocross star André Villa , all during the Xoli Raperin soccer tournament . The concert was originally supposed to be headlined by Akon it seems , and the rapper made an announcement he would be going over last month according to Newsweek , but it seems he dropped out for unknown reasons . Some have taken to social media to say it would have been better if the money used to pay Nelly to perform was just given to the troops . Also performing was Arab Idol ’ s Ammar Koofy . Some however are less than thrilled and have attacked the non-profit for paying Nelly a reported six-figure appearance fee and not giving the money directly to displaced families and troops . Ranj Talabany wrote on Twitter ; 'So apparently # Nelly has been paid $ 650,000 to perform in # Erbil for peshmerga 's . Would be better if money had gone straight to peshmerga . '
the Rwanga Foundation performed in Kurdistan on Friday at a benefit concert to benefit troops fighting ISIS and those impacted by the recent conflict in the area . The concert was organized by Rapper Nelly , a non-profit that was created to help people living in Kurdistan and Iraq . Some have taken to social media to say it would have been better if the money used to pay Nelly to perform was just given to the troops .