Nelly Furtado has given credit to Drake for encouraging her to make a musical comeback. The 44-year-old singer revealed that fellow Canadian Drake, 36, – who invited her to be a surprise guest for his All-Canadian North Stars event in Toronto last summer – reminded her about her legacy and value to the music industry and urged her to get back in the studio to work on new music.
“I have more gratitude nowadays, so I know how blessed I am to be a performer and creator. I’m really leaning into my profession,” she told Variety.
“I met Drake a year ago and we had some deep conversations about life and art and he blew up my head reminding me what a valuable artiste I am and told me to ‘boss up’ and make new music, and I listened. So, I couldn’t say no when he invited me on stage, I had to be brave and boss up and start the next chapter.”
Nelly has reportedly been working on her new album – her first since 2017’s The Ride – since last year and she has enjoyed the collaborative, creative process.
Confirming the reports, Nelly said she has been “making new music solid, nonstop for the last year the way I like to: late nights, space to create wildly and loads of community and collaboration. I am making a pop album influenced by sounds that I love. My album touches on dance – I did a record with SG Lewis that I adore. T-Minus produced my “Bomba Estereo” song. T-Minus is a beast! I am proud of that record. One of my tunes is produced by Wonda Gurl – I love her energy.”
Born Nelly Kim Furtado, she is a Canadian singer and songwriter, who d has sold over 40 million records worldwide making her one of the most successful Canadian artistes. She is widely known for her musical versatility and genre experimentation.
She first gained fame with her trip hop-inspired debut album, Whoa, Nelly! (2000), which was a critical and commercial success that spawned two top-10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, “I’m Like a Bird” and “Turn Off the Light”. The first of the two singles won her a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Her introspective folk-heavy 2003 second album, Folklore, explored her Portuguese roots. Its singles received moderate success in Europe, but the album’s underperformance compared to her debut was regarded as a sophomore slump.
