The Celebrity Truth

Nelly Furtado has enjoyed enormous success with her latest album Loose.  TCT sat down with Nelly for a quick chat about working with Timbaland, why she’s thought about quitting the music industry and what type of underwear she likes.

Congratulations on the continued success of Loose.  It’s an album where you could release every track as a single.
I could tour for two years!  I always wanted an album like that.  One that was full and no holds barred.  Just 12 great songs, you know?

How many songs did you have to record to get those 12 killers?
I had to record 40 tracks and then I chose the cream of the crop, the best 12 of 40.

What’s your favourite song of all time?
Power Fantastic by Prince.

The majority of your album was produced by Timbaland.  I know you recorded other tracks with producers such as Pharrell Williams and Scott Storch.  Will these ever see the light of day?
They’ll be kind of like B sides.  You’ll see them come out slowly but surely.  Those kind of things, they take a little while and then eventually you soemtimes hear them.  I actually bumped into Pharrell the other day at the record company.  He was important, he was actually one of the people who encouraged me to work with Timbaland on this album.  He also encouraged me to sing in Spanish which I did and I have two Spanish songs on the album.

What I like is that you’re not afraid to take risks.  Your first album was different to your second and the third is a total departure altogether.
Well I think it’s important you know?  I think evolution is important and I think change is important and I think it’s part of being a human being.  I want to put out jazz albums, blues albums, children’s albums, who knows?  Timbaland and I are thinking of doing an alternative album, something similar to the Gorillaz or Gnarls Barkley, like a project we can just really work on in Virginia.

I read somewhere that whenever you put out an album, you release it and then decide that you want to quit.
I’m not oing to say that anymore because it’s kind of silly and I think I was like a drama queen for a while.  I didn’t appreciate what I do for a living but motherhood changed me alot where I really became grateful that I even had a career and a job.  I feel really lucky that I get to do this for a living and I hope to do this for lifetime.

What song do you like to sing Karaoke?
Extreme, More Than Words.

Timbaland brings such an original sound to every song he produces.  How does he create it?
He’s just inspired.  He buys alot of cd’s and he’ll come into the studio with a duffel bag full of cd’s and it’s kind of amazing, he’ll just sift through all of them.  Some of the cd’s are from Africa, Latin America, India and Japan.  He’s into all of it and he’s always searching for new musical destinations.  He’s a born rhythm maker.  When he’s making a beat, he becomes that beat and he gets so into it where he’s almost possessed.  The first day in the studio the speaker caught fire because the volume was too loud (while working on the track Maneater).  It was like both of us just became Maneater beasts or something and set the speaker on fire.

What’s the worst injury that’s ever happened to you?
It’s not so bad.  I burned myself in Las Vegas.  I was drinking a big tall tea and I spilt it all over my leg and got like a second degree burn right before showtime.  So I had these bandages around my leg and by the end it was like all coming out of the bottom of the bandages!

What kind of underwear do you prefer, briefs, g-strings or the grandma variety?
Thongs, usually.

Buy Nelly Furtado’s Loose from iTunes here.