<<REWIND: Nelly's "Mi Plan"

Though it’s common place in the world of “plastic”, “hollow” music, I am never not amazed that bopper fans like — crave, even — for the artists they love to continue to spew out the same material over and over again.  Change a leading sentiment there or a lyric or two here, regardless of how many years you have been on the scene, and the fans seem content.  I have seen fans drop like flies for artists who try to brave that wave of defying expectations when it comes to follow-up albums.

Let’s take one of my forever true loves Tori Amos for example.  Her move from that “me, and a gun, and a piano” acoustic flare that made her a cultish following in the early 90s to having a full-on band and incorporating synthetic/computerized beats and electrical outlets in the latter part of the 90s seemed a death sentence for her album sales.  Though she still remains the disaffected youth’s queen with very successful tours, it’s her older tunes that get more praise and tour air time than her experimentation since album From the Choir Girl Hotel and on.

Grammy Award-winning Nelly Furtado hasn’t been immune either.  Furtado’s magnum ooopus would probably be her sophomore album Folklore, a brilliantly written and produced romp through culture, loves, life and fame’s effects.  The album was a brave, bold, and artistic move for Furtado but some critics and fans alike panned it, wanting a more happy-go-lucky Furtado, a la her debut Whoa, Nelly! Furtado’s third release Loose seemed more rally cry of all the tricks that worked for her before and, as expected, was a major success, racking sales that surpassed 10million copies.

In a world of very little grey and way too much black and white, Furtado may have finally found a happy medium with the upcoming release of her 4th studio album, Mi Plan.  With a nod to “doing her own thang” she recorded it entirely in Spanish but listen to the first single “Manos Al Aire” and you will definitely hear influences beyond that, incorporating popular beats that will placate her rabid fans.   The single is already an international success.

File Under: Good Luck, Furtado.  LOVE YOU!