The year 2006 saw Nelly Furtado leave one-hit-wonder territory and enter superstardom. Inde
ed, with a string of hits each hotter than the previous, the ‘I’m Like A Bird’ singer established herself as a chart force scoring #1s after #1s. The unapologetic ‘Promiscuous’ serves as this week From The Vault pick.
Helmed by then “it producer” Timbaland, the tune saw Nelly and Timbo (featured here as a rapper/singer) trading flirtatious lines on a seductive beat. The songbird exudes confidence and sensuality with her laid-back delivery, while Mr. Mosley is surprisingly pleasing with the “singing thing”.
A global home run, ‘Promiscuous’ reached the top spot of the charts in the US and Nelly’s homeland of Canada, and was a Top
3 single in the UK and Australia. It peaked inside the Top 20 in most of the other countries it was released in.
The Little X directed music video, which famously features cameos by Justin Timberlake and then-newbie Keri Hilson, sees Furtado interacting playfully and features an army dancers grooving at a club. By no means original, yet a visually delicious take
on a well-treaded concept. (Sidenote: just imagine what a Janet, Ciara or old-Britney would have done with that ending breakdown!)
Fans of the Canadian diva no doubt look back at the ‘Loose’ days as a golden era, for Nelly’s latest ventures can’t seem to match past achievements. And that’s putting it lightly.
With her latest effort, ‘The Spirit Indestructible’, selling 5,700 copies first week in the US while debuting at #79, the days of Top Shot Debut albums and consecutive #1 singles seem to be long gone.
And while we firmly believe it’s a case of being “gone for too long” and serving up wack material upon your return, we want to hear what YOU think:
What went wrong with Nelly Furtado’s career?
Promiscuous was the s***! It’s better than any s*** on the whole Hot 100.
And any s*** off of it, like all Beyonce’s 4 singles.
girl bye. Stop the exaggerations. It was a good song, okay? Leave it at that.
well there goes rihanna’s discography
B**** please , why would not you all recognize Beyoncé is on top of everyone else and has been for the past 10 years ?
She sold like 2-3 millions doing no promotion and pregnant . Stop hating!
Umbrella, We found love, are allllll more memorable than this song. You must be extremely delusional if you think otherwise.
I was really feeling her around this time Say it right & all good things come to an end are classics , she shouldnt of taken a 6 year break now no ones here for her which sucks cause shes beautiful & very talented…
Somebody make a time transporter so I can go back in time and stay there.
Nelly went out on a limb when she chose Tim & Danjahandz to create the sonic sound for Loose. Fast forward 5 years and the 3 creatives are no longer the once formidable trio. So, Ms Furtado sought a new direction.
I think the intent was Folklore Vs Loose… but she drew a mild hand.
She has her fan base confused. We don’t want the “WHOA!” Nelly anymore.. we were hoping to salvage “Say It Right” Nelly
Artists too often lack a personal side and only have a musical face. They fail to connect with their fans on a regular basis and in all reality become lazy. With the advent of Gaga and an increase of social media in the last 4 years there has been increasing pressure for celebs to be more connected and Nelly’s been doing what? She’s always been seen pretty left of field, somewhat “weird” but that can be used to an advantage if you have fun with it. Again see Gaga.
She’s a serious artist somewhere between Alicia Keys’ credibility and Christina Aguilera’s consistency with an interesting edge like Gwen Stefani. I think lacking a distinct s*** side and not having any bright appeal to her brand she’s become bland to her once buying public who are now over half a decade older and need something that’s more relevant to today.
In all reality, sometimes your 15, 50 or 500 minutes of fame are up and it’s time to move on to different things. If this album doesn’t pick up in an avalanche sort of way it will be a drastic commercial embarrassment for her. However, as she DOES speak 5 languages she could go on to have success in many international teritories, from India to the Francophone, Hispanophone and Lusaphone parts of the world. Considering she’s a humanitarian (I think) she could use her touring (and her own money) in those regions to also do awareness and aid work.
TGJ, I don’t think it’s fair to say her material was/is wack. I like some of what I’ve heard and it is different to the normal Pop garbage we are forced to listen to week after week. What do you say about Alexandra Burke releasing a Casacada “Evacuate the Dancefloor” type album and Kelly Rowland forgetting to sing on her last? Nelly’s done better RnB (and music) than them both!
Just to add, with her talent she could make life VERY difficult for Katy Perry if she marketed herself correctly. Better looks, voice, music – everything! Her music has credibility! And she wouldn’t have to sing about s** so sleazily to sell!
1st: Lady Gaga bought 50% of her twitter followers, and almost 40% are inactive people who never go on.
Nicely put.
leaving timbaland was what went wrong, bigggg mistake.
don’t forget Danja… all those bells and whistles were fine tuned by Danja. I think that’s why she had to pack and leave. Tim & Danja were no longer a creative item after 2007
true
I didn’t even know she had a new album out….
Oh what I would do to go back to 2006 again. That was a good year for music. We got “Loose,” Justin Timberlake’s “Futuresex/LoveSounds” and so many other great albums from great artists. Now music is being plagued by gimmicks like Rihanna and Nicki Minaj who have no substance in their music. Regarding Nelly Furtado though, lets not forget that she made a Spanish album in between her time off. She in an international artist so I’m sure she’ll find success somewhere if she releases the right single off of “The Spirit Indestructible.” It’s by no means a bad album at all. I like a lot of the songs on there she just needs the right song to catch on.
Rihanna is not on the list of Modern day gimmicks, in fact, even though I dislike her Nicki doesen’t even qualify either. Gaga and beiber however, the definition of substanceless gimmicks.
Lady Gaga is the only “talented” gimmick in the industry though right now. Nicki and Rihanna don’t qualify that criteria…
I also would like to see what “substance” Rihanna cooks up by herself if she ever were to write a song 100% hers and original….BYE.
RIhanna isn’t a gimmick but Gaga is? I can’t! Gaga’s lyrics might be completely superficial crap, but at least she takes the 10 minutes to write them. Rihanna doesn’t write, dance, or even sing (without studio magic helping her) she is the definition of gimmick. Relying on her style changes, drama all over TV and magazines, and “bad girl” persona.
Her album is not wack.She just tried a different sound but it didn’t work obviously but i applaud her for being brave enough to release this album despite everyone knowing it wouldn’t do well…
Nelly and her brand just wernt strong enough to handle the musical climate, she may be relevant again in a few years if the musical climate changes, but in this day and time, there is no place for her, well in the masses theres not
Gone for too long is quite a cliched excuse to be honest. Sade hadn’t release an album in a decade and when they came back, they openend with half a million copies. There could be a number of reasons. From, her losing her fans or they getting bored of her and probably alienated during the “loose” area or just people not just feeling her new music at all! I think she should go back to her pre-loose days, thats what made her really stand out. But, you never know. One hit single can change everything! So, lets wait and see what her next singles say.
2006 was a good year in music, and not only did Nelly revamp her music but her entire image as well.
Timbaland and co gave Nelly the musical comeback she needed, but she can’t seem to find a steady audience.
For the record, this song was more suitable for Nelly than Britney and Janet.
OMG…I jst had 2 go to itunes and download this song again…i’ve been hitting replay 4 the last 35min…the reason she probably didn’t want to recreate the loose sound was because timbo and danja exhausted it on basically every other artist that recorded with them include madonna (4 minutes) and britney (gimme more)
Mi Plan (Spanish: My Plan) is the fourth studio album by Canadian recording artist Nelly Furtado and the first she has released in Spanish. Mi Planwas first released on September 11, 2009 by Furtado’s own record label, Nelstar Entertainment. The album won a Latin Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Album in 2010. The lead single from the album, “Manos al Aire” was released in June 2009. The song became Furtado’s first solo number one single on the US Billboard Top Latin Songs chart. She also became the first North American artist to top the chart with an original Spanish song. Two further singles came from the album, “Más”, released in December 2009, and “Bajo Otra Luz”, released in June 2010. The album was further supported by her 2010 Mi Plan Tour, her first tour reaching Latin America. A remix album was released in October 2010, featuring remixes of the singles.
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That first single from that Spanish album was a big success on radio here in Spain. Don´t know about sales
All I can say is I never been a big fan of her and her annoying voice. I just liked her urban pop style songs that go good in the clubs…I can’t believe she flopped tho. Surprised how low those numbers were! YIKES.
Music is in a scary situation right now…
I can’t believe that she sold under 6,000 copies. If I would have told anybody that six years ago they would have never believed me!
I’m convinced that people don’t make quality music anymore because nobody is really buying it. Why spend months and even years on a project that won’t make you any money?
Adele’s double diamond 21 begs to differ. Have the right songs, at the right time, with the right promotion (having some actual singing talent helps) and you’ll get a successful album.
True, I suppose. Adele’s definitely a lucky story. Plenty of artists have had that similar sound but have sold much, much less.
She took way too long to a hiatus. Alot of consumers didn’t even know she really had an album out either. She just needs some hits again that’s all. Her new album is good, she just doesn’t have a hit.
I think what went wrong is that she didn’t attempt to create a new sound, she just seemed to try to create loose.
I also think that with loose the beats, vocals, styling/image all went well. on this album her voive sounds winey and grating so regardless how okay the songs are they have to be forsaken to save my ears.
Nelly is not signed to a major. Being and indie artist (self funded) maybe she can’t afford a Timberland track. No more multi million dollar deals and over the top videos.
You hit the nail on the head. All these other reasons that have been stated are wrong. This new CD is a good effort. i dont know what all these others who say its bad were listening to. If she were on a major label and had that promotion machine behind her , she would have sold more. and been at the top of the charts.
Wrong, she is signed to Timbalands’ label. Rodney Jerkens did the bulk of producing this album. It is a failed attempt at trying to create the magic made on Loose. She should have just stayed with Tim. He may not be it “it” producer, but he is still hot.
I think part of it is material. Personally I wasn’t impressed by anything she was serving up this go-around. Part of it might just be because the musical trend now is a lot different than how it was back five or six years.
Nelly is not a typical commercial artist. Her new album is way too left field to catch onto the mainstream. She didn’t cheapen her brand & release some “Die Young”, fast food pop music.
Nelly is signd to a major label. She’s signed to interscope.
I like her rapping and songs where they edit her vocals so they aren’t so whiney, but she seems to revel in her whiny voice and wants everyone to hear her sing her songs in that “whiny” tone that is very upsetting to my eardrums. If you hear her old songs, they coat her vocals with reverb and delay and apply tons of EQ cuts to reduce the whiney quality of her voice. She should’ve done a rap/pop album…she’s actually quite a talented rapper and doesn’t seem like a “try hard.” Her Fergie diss was pretty amazing.
She’s a has-been .. THATS IT 🙂
bye
BTW
Nelly is a living example why Rihanna is not taking breaks LOL!
#FACT #TRUTH #DEAL
Not taking breaks will only shorten Rihanna Career #FACT #TRUTH #DEAL The audience will get tired of contentiously being served “Fast Food Tracks.” Beyonce last album is a living example of that.
I didn’t even realize her album was out! wow…
That’s what happens when you think that the world is going to wait for you !
Spirit Indestructible , Bigger The Better , and High Life are cool tho!
i love how keri randomly appears at the end of the video lol WE LOVE YOU MISSKERIBABY <3
I’d be a lot more impressed with folks mentioning Beyonce and Rihanna if those two didn’t make their Satanic affiliations so well known. Would they be ‘on top’ if thy didn’t engage in blatant Devil worship?