Nelly Furtado's third album, Loose, described by Entertainment Weekly as "a confidently sexy mix of party anthems and slow jams," will release June 20 on Geffen Records. Anticipation
for the album has been intensified by two hit singles, "Promiscuous" in the U.S. and "Maneater" internationally.
"Promiscuous," has held down #1 on the Billboard Top Hot Singles chart
for the past three weeks. It's also #3 on The Billboard Hot 100, #2 on
the Pop 100 and #9 on the Pop 100 Airplay chart, and growing each week.
The track is also supported by a video directed by Little X which has
been comfortably entrenched in MTV's Total Request Live (TRL) for six
weeks, reaching #2 on the countdown, and racking up #1 spins on the
channel.
"She's a rapping, dancing pop star," enthused Rolling Stone. "The
Timbaland-produced track is the most enticing guilty pleasure this side of
My Super Sweet 16."
Furtado first collaborated with Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley on the 2001
remix of Missy Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On." The producer, best known
for his work with Missy, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z and Aaliyah,
reconnected with Nelly and ended up producing 10 of the songs on Loose.
"Te Busque," a duet with Latin superstar Juanes, was produced by Lester
Mendez. (Nelly dueted with Juanes on his "Fotografia," one of the
biggest Latin songs of 2003.) A luscious ballad, "In God's Hands," was
produced by Rick Nowels and "No Hay Igual," a Spanish hip-hop piece was
produced by Timbaland and Nisan Stewart.
"Nelly Furtado's greatest strength has always been her musical
versatility," noted Vibe magazine. "Furtado masterfully combines Spanish and
pop influences in her own unique way. For this artist, it's always been
about finding the perfect mix." YRB's current cover story heralds:
"Nelly Furtado embodies more musical flavors than any other female artist
in the pop pyramid...She's sure to stand out in the pop mix with more
maturity, swagger and sonic punch than ever before."
"Promiscuous" is also ubiquitous as the music bed for a 20 million
dollar television and theater ad campaign for Verizon, airing from mid May
through June.
The single has already scored digital sales of 288,818, hit #1 on
Billboard's Hot Digital Songs, #2 at both iTunes Top Songs and Top Pop
Songs, and is in the 10 most played songs on AOL, while the video is the
most played song on AOL and ranks #2 on Yahoo video.
Loose released June 12 internationally, lead by Maneater which has
earned #1 on Billboard's Euro Digital Tracks chart, #1 on the UK singles
sales chart, #6 on the Billboard Eurocharts Singles list and #4 on the
German Singles chart. ITunes ranks Maneater as #1 in the UK, Denmark,
Ireland and Luxemburg; #2 in Austria, Finland and Netherlands; and #3 in
Germany, Switzerland and Sweden.
Furtado was the musical guest on the last Saturday Night Live of the
season May 20. She left the next day for Europe where she has been
performing at festivals. She returns to the U.S. to perform on The Tonight
Show's outdoor stage June 16, at the 2006 Much Music Video Awards in
her native Canada June 18, and on The Today Show, The View and MTV's
Total Request Live (TRL) June 22. She is also slated for the Calgary
Stampede in Calgary, Canada on July 8, the Ottawa Bluesfest in Ottawa,
Canada July 12, at Summer Sonic in Osaka, Japan on August 12 and in Tokyo,
Japan on August 13. A tour of the U.S. is also planned.
Furtado's multi-platinum debut album, Whoa, Nelly! released October 24,
2000. It earned her four Grammy nominations, winning for Best Female
Pop Vocal Performance for "I'm Like A Bird," plus four Canadian Juno
awards. Her second album, Folklore, released November 25, 2003, was
gold-certified in the U.S. and multi-platinum internationally. That album
included "Forca", the official song of Euro 2004 (the second biggest
soccer tournament in the world, behind the World Cup).
But to sum up, as Nelly told Entertainment Weekly: "It's not about how
big my audience is. It's about having an audience that understands
what I'm doing. I'm not faithful to one style -- "I'm a musically
promiscuous girl."
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