Nelly Furtado talks to Billboard's Executive Music Director, Jason Lipshutz about her anticipated return to music, reminisces on her career re-defining album 'Loose,' teases her new music, what it's like to work with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland again and more!
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00:00 Oh shit, okay.
00:02 This is the most fun I've ever had during a video.
00:05 Hi, I'm Nelly Furtado. This is Billboard News.
00:08 I'm here with the one and only Nelly Furtado.
00:19 [Music]
00:32 Nelly, I'm so happy you're here. I'm such a huge fan.
00:35 For real?
00:36 Oh, the hugest fan. Seriously.
00:38 I had a feeling you might be a fan, but I wasn't sure.
00:43 Oh, come on.
00:44 I listened to, on my walk here, I listened to all of The Spirit Indestructible.
00:49 Yeah, right.
00:50 I swear to God.
00:51 No way.
00:52 Parking lot, just like blasting in my ears.
00:54 Oh my God.
00:55 I mean, and meanwhile, like you've been kind of slowly, as you said, playing shows, put out the single with Dom Dalla.
01:04 Like, what has it been like kind of tipping your toe back into the music world a little bit more?
01:09 It's been so fun. I'm just like more grateful than ever. I'm super grateful.
01:13 I feel like the place I'm at right now is kind of like the same place I was at when I was like, I would say 20.
01:18 And I first signed a record deal.
01:20 And like, I spent all my time obsessing over music, listening to music and making music and collaborating with friends who make music and family, actually.
01:29 And so I'm there again. Like, I'm in it for the craft. I'm in it for the right reasons.
01:34 And I just, it's so pure for me right now. It's just pure inspiration, like all day.
01:40 How has your process changed just over even over the last couple of years?
01:47 So I had phases of my life where I loved being like the singer songwriter girl and I literally had home studios and I would sit and I'd be like, I'm going to put on a flowery dress and I'm going to write some songs.
01:57 And I would sit and you need the flowery dress.
02:01 Not now. Not now. Not now. No, not at all.
02:04 I'm the opposite. Now I'm back to like, I just want to stay up till 7 a.m. in the studio.
02:09 I invite as many people and it has to feel as circus like as possible.
02:13 All the freaks come out at night and that's how I know that we're we're we belong together.
02:18 What is the vibe you're feeling right now in terms of music?
02:22 Glad you asked. I'm just like happier than ever making music.
02:26 I love my job more than I've ever loved it.
02:28 I've recognized that being on stage is like my home.
02:32 I've been performing since I was four. I knew I loved it when I was four.
02:36 I still love it. I'm just back to the simplicity of being grateful for what I do and just that's it.
02:43 I'm just grateful. So I'm just here and doing my best, I guess.
02:46 I keep going. I keep going. I keep going.
02:50 How are we here? 17 years later, I don't pinch me like I've been having pinch me moments lately.
02:55 What was that process like just in terms of working with them again, in terms of figuring out like what the 2023 version of that, you know, trio sounds like?
03:05 Justin and Tim have been working on music for a year together.
03:09 They had thought it out quite a lot and I came into the picture.
03:12 But what's great about them is they were like, we want you to do your thing.
03:17 If the three of us are on a song, we're all equals, you know, and that's a really good feeling.
03:23 It's amazing. I mean, I was listening to also on my walkover. Give it to me.
03:27 I was listening to number one smash. I mean, speaking of like equals, like all three of you just bring absolute heat on that song.
03:34 When you look back on that time period, like what what comes to mind? Like what what do you think about first?
03:40 I don't know. Probably like the tour. Like just I made loose because I wanted to do an arena tour.
03:47 I must have set an intention for it to be big in some way. So like an arena is big. Right.
03:52 So I wanted songs that would like sound good in an arena. So I don't know.
03:57 But when I talked to Timbaland about it now, he always says I just was in a certain open space in my life and my energy was really open.
04:04 And that's why the record feels the way it does. I think I was like when I made loose, I was super inspired by like Madonna's album, Ray of Light.
04:11 And also like Janet Jackson's album, Janet, because I felt like those are like iconic pop albums where where there's like grown women kind of like being making pop music, but having it be special and unique in some way and just like kind of streamlined.
04:25 And so I knew I wanted something a little more streamlined than my other albums up into that.
04:30 God, I never really made that connection. Ray of Light and Loose. Like it. But you're absolutely right that it's like very, you know, you think about like the space that some of those songs like like say it, say it right.
04:43 And then you have a song like Frozen on Ray of Light. Wow. OK. Yeah. See, do you see the connection now? It's like vibes where like it's pop, but it has depth.
04:52 So my last question is, what's the goal now? You talked about the collaboration and kind of the process of songwriting and putting these new pieces together.
05:01 But what's the goal now? My goal is keep on making records. I have so many songs in the pipeline. I have so many new songs.
05:08 I have so many new songs. But in the meantime, I guess I'm just like, I wish I could play you a song if you'd like to hear one.
05:14 I'm very excited. I've never had this happen to me and I'm thrilled about it. Oh, shit. OK.
05:21 So it's like incredibly vibrant and I'm like screaming.
05:28 This sounds amazing. Oh, this is so cool. Wow. Feeling it? Yeah. Wow. You sound awesome on this. Thanks.
05:36 This is the most fun I've ever had during a video. OK, good, good, good. That's what I'm going for. Fun.
05:42 Yay! Thank you!
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