Getting Loose with Nelly Furtado: The Story of 'Promiscuous'

Since the turn of the millennium, Nelly Furtado has been cementing her legacy as one of Canada’s most successful pop stars.  The Victoria, BC native went from unknown newcomer to overnight sensation in 2000 with the release of her debut single, “I’m Like A Bird.” That song won her a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, over heavyweights like Janet Jackson and Sade.  At a time when music was obsessed with teen pop, nu-metal and hip-hop, Nelly emerged with a genre-hopping sound that felt very much her own. She struck gold with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, which spawned two hit singles - “I’m Like A Bird” and “Turn Off The Light”.  For her second album, 2003’s Folklore - Nelly chose to take a more focused path for her music. Crediting her pregnancy at the time as the reason for its mellower direction, Nelly wanted to create “a modern folk record.”  Folklore featured a variety of instruments like the banjo, the Portuguese ukulele, and the dulcimer, as well as “Força,” which Nelly sung in her parents’ native Portuguese. That song even gained a ton of exposure when it was chosen as the official theme of EURO 2004, held in Portugal… But in the end, the album proved to be both a critical and commercial disappointment.  Luckily Nelly already had a vision for her next release.  Nelly wanted to make something that was “smooth but sexy, universal, epic, iconic,” she told Fader in 2016. Madonna’s massive comeback album, Ray of Light, was her main inspiration and the template she began working from. During a meeting with Interscope president Jimmy Iovine, Nelly was referred to work with Timbaland, who was riding high from his recent success with Justin Timberlake. As the album was taking shape, Nelly began to see she was changing as an artist.  The whole world was about to see a new side to Nelly Furtado. And she was ready to show it off. Released in April 2006, the first single from Nelly Furtado’s third album, Loose, introduced a new era for the 27-year-old singer.  This is the story of Nelly Furtado's hit song 'Promiscuous' ft. Timbaland, with newly unearthed audio from Nelly Furtado, Timbaland, and Director X.