Nelly on Panraven

Two-time Grammy award winner Nelly has debuted a multimedia story on Cambridge-based startup Panraven, in hopes that appealing to online audiences will help spread the word about his new album.

Launched in 2005, Panraven is a kind of Slide on steroids. Users can upload photos, text, music, and video to create custom storybooks. The site pays special attention to aesthetics, with sleek template designs, layouts and a full-screen option.

Nelly's storybook offers highlights of his video shoot for Wadsyaname. Panraven users that share the storybook with their friends are entered in a contest, where they can win a trip to an upcoming video shoot.

The storybook format is uniquely suited to the rap star, whose debut album Country Grammar — released in 2000 — included inspired nursery-rhyme-style lyrics and melodies.

Nelly's Panraven site also serves as a promotional vehicle for other online destinations. It is embedded on his MySpace page and personal website, in addition to other Nelly-rich places of interest across the web.

Other musicians are also using Panraven as a promo tool. Guster's Adam Gardner created a storybook to promote his non-profit effort Reverb.