Right when the millennium just started, the then-20-year-old Nelly Furtado entered into the year 2000 with a folky pop debut and instant sing-a-long hit ‘I’m Like a Bird’. Literally as the title of the song, the Canadian singer from Victoria, British Columbia, was introducing herself as a free bird who wanders through life. Her persona as a world singer, carrying close roots to her parents’ home country of Portugal, is seen early on in her music, presenting herself in different shades and musical genres since releasing debut album ‘Whoa, Nelly!’ in that same year. Whether dancing in a swamp full of mud in follow-up single ‘Turn Off The Light’, or carrying a huge radio on her shoulders walking through streets in ‘Shit On The Radio (Remember The Days)’, she also found some time by rapping in a remix of Missy Elliott’s ‘Get Ur Freak On’ that underlined her diversity. Known for her no-boundary approach in music, Nelly followed up a world sound in gypsy-style in her sophomore LP ‘Folklore’ (2003) that didn’t attract much attention in the U.S., but instead was internationally successful with the support of its singles ‘Powerless (Say What You Want), ‘Try’, and ‘Força’ – the official football anthem of the 2004 European Cup held in Portugal.
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And then there was ‘Loose’: Released in 2006 and heavily contributed by rapper and famous producer Timbaland and his protégé Danja. As stated by Nelly that she felt she didn’t have material that would translate well for big crowds or large venues, missing a so-called ‘open sound’, she wanted to prove herself that she’d be able to go into mainstream, and the result was more than she bargained for: A variety of dance, pop, hip-hop and R&B that sold around 10 million units. The cute folky singer all of the sudden transformed into a more commercial and sexualized performer, which was criticized, but the music applauded, including the instant chemistry she had with Timbaland. ‘The golden four’ that she released as singles helped her to be the most successful female singer of 2006 and 2007, with ‘Promiscuous’ and ‘Say It Right’ peaking at the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100, and ‘Maneater’ and ‘All Good Things (Come To An End)’ hitting number one on international territories.
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Described by Nelly to be like ‘a horse that’s going fast’ and how it was ‘hard to keep up with the horse’, she questioned her blown-up image and started to envy people with ‘normal’ lives. Also later admitting that she fell into arguments with Timbaland after ‘Loose’, Nelly craved for something else and jumped into Spanish music for 4th album ‘Mi Plan’ in 2009, known for single ‘Manos al Aire’, and won a Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album in 2010, then concluded her collection of hits for her first greatest hits album ‘The Best of Nelly Furtado’ in that same year.
When she released that compilation, it literally felt like a ‘Best Of’ of what has been and what she’s known for, as her music she released afterwards sadly had a hard time following up her success prior. Though 2012s ‘The Spirit Indestructible’ still gained some recognition in parts of Europe and put effort in singles like lead ‘Big Hoops (Bigger The Better)’ where she walked on stilts and danced with Native American hoop dancers (including world champion Tony Duncan), the album was poorly promoted and failed to replicate sales she had before, which lead to a split with her label, going independent instead – releasing her first own imprint album ‘The Ride’ in 2017 – out of any media circus. Then there was silence – no social media activity, no red carpets, no performances. No real explanation, although Nelly pointed out before about craving more simplicity, and hinted in ‘Tap Dancing’ – one of the songs from ‘The Ride’ – the option to let the curtain fall. But in contrary also once stated that she might see herself working with Timbaland again who she rekindled her friendship with. It’s hard to tell what the future holds for Nelly, but nonetheless there will always be the rich collection of music that she put out to the world. In often cases, a handful of her singles are highlighted, although she released many other significant singles throughout the years that are as great as her biggest hits but for some reason or another fell into a shadow. Nonetheless, here are ten picks of singles throughout her career that deserved better (the listed tracks are in no specific order).
Cold Hard Truth (from The Ride, 2017)
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While her independent released sixth studio album ‘The Ride’ (2017) made you wonder at first what kind of direction Nelly went to this time, with an artistic cover art of her in a short hairdo holding a bouquet of sunflowers with in the back two hands seen holding a pyramid-shaped piece of wood (and a green protrusion that’s on the right side of the cover). The commercial appeal apparently has been erased, but even though it looks and seems very alternative and artsy, it does not mean that the content of the album doesn’t connect with her fanbase or music she released before. ‘The Ride’ offers some nice tunes, packaged in elements of synth- and indie pop, to some flavors of 80s, 90s, and 2000s music. ‘Cold Hard Truth’, the album’s opener, acts as the theme of the album as well: Lyric-wise Nelly establishes her own new-found independency, her own proof that she could do it on her own, and therefore lets you know that “the cold hard truth is I can make it without you” (often thought of being directed to her former management when she split after the poor performance of 5th LP ‘The Spirit Indestructible’).
Furthermore, ‘Cold Hard Truth’ is especially significant for its weird rhythmic structure and alternative sounds. When listening to the track the first time you may ask yourself “What the hell is going on?” when Nelly starts off in normal pace “It’s been a long time…” then loudly sings in a higher voice “Coming, coming, coming!” with a harder beat in the background. The track gets even better when understanding the structure – as if somebody puts all the flavors smushed into one track: Some bass here, some synthesizer there, then some drumstick effects sounding as if the sticks are ticked on glass bottles. A lot is going on, and though the style does not necessarily match what’s on the radio and may not have mainstream appeal, that doesn’t really matter. The song is its own trendsetter and is hard to not get infected by it.
Parking Lot (from The Spirit Indestructible, 2012)
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Teenage nostalgia: Back in the day, hanging out with friends at the parking lot, chilling and doing nothing, or basically making up their own party from sunrise to sundown. That’s literally the entire theme created by Nelly with the help of writer and producer Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins (‘If You Had My Love’ by J.Lo, ‘You Rock My World’ by Michael Jackson). The song is guided with loud horns and a heavy beat, and while Nelly’s pitched voice and half-singing, half-speaking in laid-back fashion offers some street style, the song’s also very fun and silly when she calls you to “bring your car to the parking lot and ride around ‘till you get a spot”, then goes cheerful like in a kid’s tune (“Na-na na-na na, ley ley”). And just when you think it’s over, unexpectedly changes up the rhythm in a ‘doo-wap’ fashion for a nice aftertaste, then ending with a loud “Hey!”
Fans though were first surprised when Nelly officially released ‘Parking Lot’ to the world as another sparkier version of the song leaked before the release. The leak of the ‘other’ edit turned out to be a live version she recorded with her band for the AOL Sessions, and because it was recorded in a closed room and being a smooth performance, it actually almost sounded like a studio track. A similar story like Bob Marley’s ‘No Woman No Cry’ where the live version was (or is) more cherished than the studio version.
Released as a single from her fifth studio album ‘The Spirit Indestructible’ (2012), the song is often compared to Gwen Stefani’s ‘Hollaback Girl’ and music from M.I.A., plus sharing similar vibes to her Timbaland/Loose era. On top of that, the horns share similarities to the keyboard-sounds of Abba’s ‘Does Your Mother Know’. Moreover, the official music video shines with Nelly dancing around custom Mini Coopers during nighttime, full of street attitude and bright lights. The lights also animate video game character Pac-Man, and when you squint hard enough you may see a figurine of Luffy from Japanese manga ‘One Piece’ inside a toy-and-plush filled car Nelly’s sitting in.
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Though promoted on TV series 90210 and performed at The Wendy Williams Show at the time of the release, ‘Parking Lot’ didn’t manage to attract mainstream attention. A pity, as the crazy horn, bell, and bass-filled track stays – to this day – a catchy and a timeless song that makes you happy, and is simply fun to listen to.
Explode (from Folklore, 2003)
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Peso… Joga… Ginga… Roda. In Portuguese words, Nelly starts off ‘Explode’ that roughly translates to ‘weigh, play, swing, turn’. While it’s not only a nod to her Portuguese roots, these terms are actually based on the Afro-Brazilian martial art form Capoeira. As Capoeira combines aggression, playfulness, fun and violence, Nelly links these aspects into the lyrical content of ‘Explode’ which deals about adolescence and pushing the boundaries during teenage-life: Based on a poem Nelly wrote called ‘Teenage Waste’, she describes the frisky but also ugly side of teenagerhood, from counting the stars to drug use to girls getting raped sexually (“Maybe back then we just thought that she was getting some / Now we look back and see that she didn’t know how”). Nelly showcases what it’s like to be in that time, still in development of yourself, not really having the self-control yet of what goes too far and what does not and, as Nelly sings in the bridge, this life on the edge makes “such a good story to tell” during lunch break. As adolescence is often depicted as a nostalgic time during adulthood, Nelly showcases the different sides and edges, reminding of not only the good times but the bad as well.
Fitting the style of the folky approach of her second album ‘Folklore’, ‘Explode’ also experiments with a folk-like sound and a mysterious vibe reminding of ancient tribes, though it still manages to fit in pop music. The music video shows segments of a cartoon-Nelly in high school witnessing teenage-drama, hiding in her treehouse to write in her diary and later on, inside of teenage-Nelly’s imagination, runs in a forest facing three ancient-looking monsters with masks. And even though it looks as if they are evil, their intentions are actually not bad, dancing with Nelly around a campfire in a sort of ‘facing her own fear’ moment. Probably a metaphor of teenage-life, facing what seems scary, witnessing life and – quoting Phaedrus – that things are not always what they seem.
Waiting for the Night (from The Spirit Indestructible, 2012)
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While Nelly’s hit album ‘Loose’ is noticeable for the chemistry she had with producer and rapper Timbaland, for ‘The Spirit Indestructible’ she tried to rekindle a similar feel with Rodney Jerkins (aka Darkchild). While she also worked with Salaam Remi and Rick Nowels on that album, the biggest bunch is created with Darkchild that even though got largely overlooked comparing the success of her music with Timbaland, she did, in fact, manage to create some very noticeable tracks with Rodney (like the before mentioned ‘Parking Lot’). ‘Waiting for the Night’ is a great example in that case. Inspired by a diary entry she wrote as 16-year-old during a vacation in São Miguel Island in Portugal, the album offers an introduction where a teenage girl writes about only having two days left of her holiday, having “the best summer of her life”, excited of a street party where she hopes that a boy she liked will be there as well.
Basically considered to be a dance-pop track, the song sticks out with underlining influences of Latin and folk music, with accordion and bagpipes in the background. Unusual instruments for an electro-pop song, but surprisingly works very well, giving an atmospheric gypsy feel while also sharing some similarities to the Jennifer Lopez song of (almost) the same name, ending with Nelly’s father exclaiming “Oh man, that’s so Rock’n’Roll!” The black and white music video strengthens a sub-cultural feeling when Nelly appears to be in a southern atmospheric underground setting where candles are lighted, wearing Spanish-looking clothes with half of her face (and also on some of the dancer’s faces) painted in a scary white and black mask-like fashion reminiscent of the Mexican holiday ‘The Day of the Dead’ (‘Día de los Muertos’). In a later scene, Nelly is seen without the paint on her face, performing tango with flowers in her hair instead. The dancers also mimic the flower-look, and later show expressive moves next to a man playing the accordion. Fun fact: Jordan Clark, winner of the 4th season of So You Think You Can Dance Canada and runner-up Melissa Mitro are featured as dancers, too.
Pipe Dreams (from The Ride, 2017)
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Rewind to 2016: Nobody really knew what Nelly had up her sleeve. Out of major deals, doing it on her own this time with own established record label Nelstar where she previously released her Spanish LP ‘Mi Plan’ (2009). Enjoying literally the free ride of releasing music when she wants and wherever she wants, hints were dropped on social media and on her own website, often mentioning Dallas, Texas, having to do something with what she was planning (posting “What happens in Dallas” as a hint, later revealed that she recorded her album there). Nelly loved to put out some appetizers beforehand with two tracks that didn’t make the standard album: Retro and indie-pop with ‘Behind Your Back’ and alternative pop track ‘Islands Of Me’ that received a lot of positive feedback from fans, in addition releasing acoustic covers ‘Feel So Close’ by Calvin Harris, and ‘Too Good’ by Drake. Then, Nelly low-key posted an article she did with The Fader on November 15, 2016, where ‘Pipe Dreams’ is premiered via Soundcloud. The song talks about ‘the false hope of dreaming’ and she started creating the song during her volunteer work in Kenya, Africa, while carrying a big canister of water on her back, that inspired her to write the song, as she stated to Billboard: “It was basically, don’t give me your artificialness – it could play into friendship, lovers or anything. Don’t give me the watered-down version of you. I want the real you.”
Even though for ‘The Ride’ Nelly did not want to put any real promotion for the singles, she was, in fact, inspired to film a music video (her only one from the album) when simply entering a house in Dallas of an elderly deceased woman that was for sale, inspired by the atmosphere, paying $100 to film ‘Pipe Dreams’ with a VHS camera, and offers a feeling of an old 80s home video: Wandering throughout the house, with close-ups of a painting of a sunflower, a chandelier out of glass, to filming the backside of a book that reads: “School days, school days / Dear old golden rule days… / When children used to bring their teachers an apple, Instead of driving them bananas.”
While this is a very different approach in comparison to her commercial video’s like ‘Maneater’ or ‘Say It Right’ (or mostly everything she did before) the song’s simple and gloomy vibe where, according to Nelly, she had to sing the lowest she ever had to sing (and in album track ‘Live’ the highest) it gives, however, an undeniably nice flow. What’s very signature Nelly is how she likes to surprise the listener with an ‘alternate’ ending, like in album ‘Loose’ where track ‘Wait For You’ unexpectedly ends with percussion drums, or ‘Big Hoops’ from ‘The Spirit Indestructible’, going high speed just when you think it’s over. Similar in ‘Pipe Dreams’ when towards the ending an organ takes over the track with Nelly repeating the lyrics “If I can’t really know you I’d rather go home.” A nice different angle for pop music.
No Hay Igual (from Loose, 2006)
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While Nelly’s third album ‘Loose’ is known for exclusive hip-hop and electro-pop elements created with the help of Timbaland and his then-protégé Danja, it actually puts a lot of tropical and southern influences in as well, putting in some Spanish feels in bonus track ‘Somebody to Love’ to Spanglish ‘Te Busqué’ featuring Colombian musician Juanes (who she worked with before in his 2003 single ‘Fotografía’). When listening to ‘Loose’, the album stumbles upon the nice chilled out track ‘Showtime’ that ends with a recording of Nelly in the studio where she’s heard exclaiming “Have you heard that reggaeton one? You have never heard that?!”, then immediately starts off ‘No Hay Igual’ (eng.: ‘There is no equal’) with its loud drums and percussions. And though the song is performed completely in Spanish (except for some “what it is” in-betweeners), the track itself is not typical Latin-influenced, but rather digs into earlier mentioned reggaeton music based on the island of Puerto Rico. None other than Pharrell Williams actually introduced Nelly to that music style, which motivated her to write the lyrics, with Timbaland, Danja, Nisan Stewart and Jim Beanz helping to create and produce the track.
With an aim to link her album towards the Spanish market, ‘No Hay Igual’ served as single that especially focused on Latin countries, with Puerto Rican band Calle 13 as support act for the single remix. The rapper of the band, René Juan Pérez Joglar, or simply known as Residente, joins Nelly in the official music video shot in La Perla shantytown in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and both can be seen stranding through the streets, eating ice cream, playing pool, then towards the ending joining a street party where Nelly gets turned off by Residente, when he raps about her genital organ in Spanish, Nelly responding “¡¿Qué?!” in disgust.
Though the version with Calle 13 strengthens a Latin American feel, the song actually works very well as solo edit too, the one that’s featured in the album. A Spanish tongue twister, ‘No Hay Igual’ was also a global favorite in Deejay setlists, and to this day is very timeless.
Bajo Otra Luz (feat. La Mala Rodríguez) (from Mi Plan, 2009)
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The ‘Loose’ era made Nelly one of the biggest female singers in the late 2000s and made her reach high enough to touch the stars. It was proof for herself that she could be more streamlined, but quickly questioned her line between image and music, and sought out to do something else. For Nelly musical barriers do not exist, and since the beginning of her career enjoyed touching on different genres from different cultures. While she was interested in creating a Portuguese language album, Nelly eventually decided to release a full-length album in Spanish instead, as she already put some marks into that direction in ‘Loose’ and other former recordings. Her album ‘Mi Plan’ (Engl.: ‘My Plan’) was then released in 2009 on newly established own record label Nelstar, with first single ‘Manos al Aire’ (Engl.: ‘Hands in the Air’) showing off a promising start that connected with early material from her first two albums, but then sung in Spanish, rather than English. One of the single releases, ‘Bajo Otra Luz’ (Engl.: ‘Under Another Light’) carries on a melodic, happy, and carefree theme that she originally started with since releasing ‘I’m Like a Bird’. Written entirely by singer/songwriter Julieta Venegas (except for La Mala Rodríguez’ rap part that the rapper wrote herself), it’s one of the rare cases where Nelly did not have a hand in writing one of her songs. And while Venegas wrote that song herself, she also sang in the hook – though was taken over by Nelly in the official single version as Venegas couldn’t participate in the music video due to pregnancy.
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In the video, both Nelly and Spanish rapper La Mala follow a camera through the streets of Little Italy in Toronto and appear in different gowns, dresses, costumes, and suits: From Nelly appearing as a cavewoman, as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz holding a small dog, to wearing a similar swan dress that Icelandic singer Björk made headlines with at the 2001 Academy Awards. La Mala, on the other hand, wears traditional gowns and costumes reminiscent of Spanish culture. It suits the lyrical content that expresses the feeling of a new self after being in a new relationship – and its rhythmic sing-a-long charm plays into it. The song kind of fell under the radar, but still delivers, with La Mala’s confident rap putting an extra spin to the track.
Hey, Man! (from Whoa, Nelly!, 2000)
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The instant success of Nelly’s debut album right at the start of the new millennium made so great waves that she actually decided to put out an extra fourth and final single for some European territories – the opener track of her album, ‘Hey, Man!’, put out as single almost 1 year and 9 months after the album release. It’s one of the songs where Nelly picks up an acoustic guitar when performing and shows her capability of being an actual musician rather than a pop star.
The fitting music video underlines that fact. Although basically a mash-up of pieces from her tour and behind the scenes footage, these snippets and images show the life of an actual musician, especially when Nelly shows how – during the ending of the song – she easily picks up an electric guitar and plays around with it. An early organic take of Nelly Furtado before the massive mainstream appeal. In the zone with the music and living in the moment. A theme that flows throughout the entire album. Especially ‘Hey, Man!’ carries the album’s vibe, therefore fitting to be the opener track of ‘Whoa, Nelly!’ Carefree and free-spirited with folk-pop and world music elements, sampling ‘White Man Sleeps’ from Kronos Quartet’s 1992 album ‘Pieces of Africa’ that’s been chopped to create a standalone beat for her own song. On top of that, ‘Hey, Man!’ is actually a demo release that was put out in favor of the final product, highlighting the organic camp-fire feel the song delivers. The playful lyrics about teasing around with a love, make it a noticeable song that as single release didn’t get enough light to shine, though instead rather acts as being a nice insider track.
Flatline (from The Ride, 2017)
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After beep sounds of a vital sign monitor, Nelly starts singing “I’ve got a flatline”, then presents a horror scenario throughout the rest of the lyrics in the song: “Driving in the worst conditions / Head on with a full collision / Now I’m on the tar in pieces / Body parts are all around.” A bloody thriller story using car crashes, bleeding to death, losing the ability to breathe to eventually losing a pulse, with Nelly exclaiming the words “I don’t feel nothing at all” in the hook, seeking for help to no avail, then even spices up the intensity in the second verse (“So wicked with your battle axe”). Stated by Nelly that ‘Flatline’ as well as ‘Phoenix’, another track from her album ‘The Ride’, was written during a depressive phase she had after splitting with a close business partner for 20 years, and the years that followed where she had to find a new direction for herself. Whatever she was feeling during that time, judging by the helplessness of the lyrics, it feels as if she was drifting in quicksand and couldn’t find an escape.
When she eventually dug in the indie-route, leaving major contracts to gain own independence, she sought to work with record producer John Congleton, who is rather known for his alternative rock sound, but got persuaded by Nelly to work in the direction of pop with her. When presenting ‘Flatline’ to him by singing the hook, and a blunt John being unimpressed of other song material Nelly showed to him, he instantly liked ‘Flatline’ for being ‘happy and sad at the same time.’ Even though he challenged Nelly during recordings, let her re-sing the first draft of the verse as he believed she could dig deeper, Nelly actually loved being challenged, and eventually created with him the biggest bunch of the album. ‘Flatline’ succeeds in bringing depth and layers of emotions mixed with alternative pop, heart monitor beeps, and wobble effects (fun fact: McKenzie Smith, the drummer from rock band Midlake, played the drums in the song).
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Being a standout track that was likely due to that reason released prior to the album, ‘Flatline’ was a great tease for her 6th studio album ‘The Ride’. The early release before the album thus can label it a standalone single. Nelly’s intention though was to have no real potential singles. As a matter of fact, she very much came to the realization that her independent released LP cannot compete in the mainstream market than her records before and put a statement on Facebook to underline that fact: “…I’ve written these songs very honestly, so it’s a nice release to be able to share them. I am independently releasing it via Nelstar, my own imprint, so that’s why there are no traditional singles, or the kind of packaging / marketing I have utilized in the past. Hopefully you may hear one of my songs on a friend’s playlist, and get a taste, or maybe in a coffee shop somewhere. Who knows. It’s got an indie/alternative/pop sound, and there is no auto-tune or fancy tricks. There are no artist features. Just a singer and cool sounds and musicians. If you happen to be able to listen to this album, I thank you for caring, and I hope you enjoy.” The album, while not having the range that her other albums had, proofs that music is music, and the songs, including ‘Flatline’, offer great and innovative content.
Ching Ching (Ms. Jade featuring Nelly Furtado and Timbaland, 2002)
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Before ‘Promiscuous’, ‘Maneater’, ‘Say It Right’, and the entire ‘Loose’ album, Timbaland and Nelly Furtado linked with each other years before, during the era of Nelly’s early ‘Whoa, Nelly!’ years. Back in 2001, when Missy Elliott released one of her all-time signature songs ‘Get Ur Freak On’, Timbaland – a close childhood friend of Missy and the producer of her song and album – let Nelly rap in the remix version that would later be added to the soundtrack of ‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’. Nelly declared that putting out that remix was important as it helped her early on to slip into the direction of urban radio where, according to Nelly, she was mistaken as a Jamaican boy in Missy’s remix at first. During that same time Timbaland created another mix for Nelly’s ‘Turn Off The Light’, together with Philadelphia rapper Ms. Jade. Almost like a back and forth game in the style of ‘I did you a favor, so you do me a favor’, Timbaland dug in Nelly’s music, loved her ‘Baby Girl’ record from her debut and sampled the ‘Ba-da-ba-ba ching-ching-ching’ and used the entire loop in a track for Ms. Jade, where he also raps in, and let Nelly do an additional singing part in the bridge and parts of the hook.
Both Ms. Jade and Timbaland exchange their rap parts in argument form, while Nelly plays the support friend for her. In the music video, where Tim’s and Jade’s fight attracts the entire neighborhood, police, and journalists during a night, with Ms. Jade even entering Tim’s apartment and destroying his valuables (including smashing his guitar), Nelly enters the crowd, acts foolishly with Timbaland, but sticking with her girl and supports Ms. Jade, whispering in her ear what to do, who then takes out money bills from Timbaland’s pockets from his jacket and throws them in the air, defining Ms. Jade’s rap-lyrics of not caring about the money he is spending on her. The song itself has a great flow and a catchy hook that plays around with Nelly’s sample (“What about my ching ching ching / What about my bling bling bling”). However, the song didn’t attract much attention in charts and it would take years before Timbaland and Nelly hook up again when Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Nelly’s label Interscope suggested for her to work with him on her album ‘Loose’, as Jimmy was a fan of the ‘Get Ur Freak On’ remix she did during that time. Nelly followed his advice and properly worked with Tim on music rather than on mixes and samples – and the rest is history. It’s kind of nice to see how early on, as seen in the ‘Ching Ching’ video, both Nelly and Timbaland already had chemistry together when they act out silly in some scenes. Therefore, ‘Ching Ching’ is definitely a nice insider track to know about.
Nelly Furtado’s résumé of music is as diverse as it can gets, but also here and there struggled to please a specific fanbase: An admirer of Nelly’s early folk music may not have a connection with her hip-hop influenced songs, and the fan who’s into her urban records may not be a big fan of her Latin album. Her style is sometimes very farfetched and hard to please everyone, but on the other side there’s everything for everybody, and a lot of music to discover. Some other notable deep cuts from her albums include ‘One-Trick Pony’, ‘Glow’, ‘Showtime’, ‘Wait For You’, ‘Enemy’, ‘Magic’, and ‘Thoughts‘ – both Kenyan Boys Choir and Tiësto version.