The artist | Nelly Furtado
Canadian pop icon Nelly Furtado is ready for her comeback. Before this year, her last album came out in 2017, causing fans to speculate on why she had “disappeared” from the music industry. But the 44-year-old singer was just being a mom, devoting her time to her three kids, now ages 19, five and four. Last year, she surprised fans on stage with Drake at OVO Fest — and this year, she’s exploded back onto the music scene, where her presence has been sorely missed. Her recent collaboration with Timbaland and JT — the first since 2007 — made headlines, and she’s been showing up on stage at music festivals, posing for pictures with other pop icons and, crucially, working on producing her next album. And with plans to host the Juno Awards in 2024, we can say that Nelly Furtado is back for good — and we couldn’t be happier.
By Lido Pimienta- Friend, award-winning musician
Nelly has inspired me since my days in Barranquilla, Colombia, as a teenager aspiring to make long-lasting music, and sometimes I have to pinch myself because not only do I get to help her vision come to life, I also get to call her a friend. Beginning as work collaborators, we eventually switched into mom mode together. Nelly, like myself, gave birth to “pandemic babies” and our kids became “cousins.” While they were in the other room playing together, Nelly and I started creating songs together. Seeing Nelly back doing interviews, dropping new songs, headlining festivals, singing with us and our friends at other festivals, appearing on TV shows, hosting award shows, being first row at Fashion Week, being on the cover of amazing magazines and more feels correct. I am immensely proud because I know how hard she has worked for her career. I know the long break was needed but — as it happens to many women in the world — especially after giving birth, we tend to feel like perhaps our voices are not needed anymore. She is part of this clear shift in music and she is bringing the gifts of love, hope and female empowerment.
Sometime in 2016 I received an email from Nelly saying she liked my ‘Agua’ music video from my album La Papessa. The music video featured my son and was recorded in many spots around Toronto and in front of a green screen. She liked the colors and the layers in it, and she contacted me so that we could brainstorm ideas for new videos for her album The Ride. This was an exciting time in Toronto, as in the city we still had venues and a culture to thrive in — and in that scene, I soared. In 2017, I ended up winning the Polaris Prize for La Papessa. Her validating of my work way before this award gave me the boost and confidence to keep going, in my lane, without worrying about whatever else was happening in the mainstream. From work collaborators, we simply switched into mom mode. Nelly, like myself, gave birth to “pandemic babies” so once we could meet in person again in the city, our kids became “cousins.” While they were in the other room playing together, me and Nelly, unbeknownst to either of us I am sure, started creating songs that are now being developed in the studio. And it all started at her kitchen table! Iconic.
Nelly came to the Lido TV family, appearing on our first episode. She let us dress her and do her makeup and she made everyone feel at ease, as of course everyone on set was freaking out because she was there. Nelly came to the north coast of Colombia where she was introduced to the jungle. She later met me in Barranquilla at a photoshoot in the deep downtown, chilling with the mototaxistas and eating watermelon out of a paper cup with my cousins and an amazing crew of people, musicians and a choir of 13 women whom I “forgot” to tell Nelly would come visit. They simply lost it when she showed up — but again — Nelly has a light from within that makes people feel at home. Soon enough, out of nowhere guitars and ukuleles started popping up and then the choir and Nelly were pretty much writing a new album.
When we came back from the trip, it was pretty much go-time. I started getting texts from Nelly at midnight with voice notes and recordings of new demos. We would send ideas back and forth but then the texts started coming at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. Eventually I started joining in the studio, and the texts at those late hours started making sense. Nelly gets into the studio at 3 p.m. and is out at 3 a.m. like it’s nothing. She is a melody-harmony-rhythm-lyric-music making machine. Experiencing her in the studio is when one truly understands why she is the musical genius that creates songs that will become part of your psyche, embedded in your brain forever.
Nelly Furtado is not a gatekeeper. Nelly will open doors and introduce you to the top producers and top people in the industry. I always say that I am not meant for the music industry, but somehow always end up in the studio working with incredible people, and since meeting Nelly, my world has opened up. Nelly will introduce me to these established huge producers and artists and say stuff like, “Lido is a real artist,” and those simple words coming from one of the best artists in the world, to me are more validating than any likes or followers and any social media or industry attention.
Working with Nelly feels like a family affair. Her management and glam team, they roll together like a family. And when a new person comes in, one is treated as such; people are taken care of, and I appreciate that so much, because I have been in these spaces before, spaces of big artists or famous people and the vibes can become dark. In the Nellyverse, as I like to call it, the space is all about light, creativity and sisterhood. Nelly is connected to the world, and is a constant student and lover of music. She goes to the big shows and the small shows, and supports you at whatever level. And it is important that people know this, because Nelly deserves all of the praise, all of the awards; she deserves the world, because she gives back so much and she has helped me when I am at my lowest. When I am feeling like I want to give up, she is there with a phone call or video call helping me get back up.
Nelly Furtado is an icon, a musical genius with a young inquisitive soul, always in pursuit of the best sound.
For more of Toronto’s most inspiring women of 2023, click here.