Nelly's Pitch
Ten years ago Nelly's pitch was that she wasn't one of the regular poppy princesses of the day. No, she had brains and she was musically influenced by a worldwide range of genres. And she wrote intelligent music that didn't have to be overproduced by Hip Hop gods. She didn't have to dance half naked moaning about sex in a club. She didn’t need sex appeal. It almost worked. She won four Grammy's for her debut single, "I'm like a Bird". You remember it. It was a powerful song at the time. In 2003 she followed "Woah, Nelly!" with "Folklore" - yeah, this is news to me, too. Needless to say, "Folklore" was unsuccessful - chartwise. Okay, so Nelly had to get the last of her free spirited indie chic out before her record company, DreamWorks was absorbed into Geffen Records and she was picked up by mega star producer Timberland. "Loose," is Nelly's little comeback. She got a sleek haircut, a chic new wardrobe, some much needed sex appeal and she learnt to pretend to dance.
“Promiscuous” is fueled by sexual tension, high energy lyrics and the grace of Timberland’s presence, which is a good luck charm to any artist these days. His heavy, ingenious and addictive beats enhance “Say it Right,” the chill out, trip hop foundation of the album. There’s a dark, hypnotic vibe to the track, and the video clip is beautifully over-produced. “Burn it Up” is chiming, repetitive and un-original. It could have been done by any of the hip-hop, whiny wannabes and the only high point of the song is the interlude by Missy Elliot. “Loose” as a whole is sensually upbeat, at points sad, introspective and musically experimental. It has been criticized because of the sexual image Nelly picked up to promote sales which, she of course, denies. She wasn’t trying to be sexy- she thinks she’s just sexy now. As opposed to ten years ago, before the baby, before Timberland and the haircut, the new record company and the bomb that was “Folklore”. Either way, it’s a chic album which shows of her vocal skills and proves that with a little Timberland magic, anyone can be good.
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