Call Her Daddy - Nelly Furtado: Embracing the Single Life

Episode Date: November 13, 2024

Join Alex in the studio for an interview with Nelly Furtado. Nelly opens up about her recent, painful breakup and shares how she’s having more fun being single and dating than she ever did in her pa...st. She also reminisces on what inspired her most iconic songs and gives her take on break up sex, the importance of confidence, and what she calls “flingationships.” Enjoy!

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 What is up, Daddy Gang? It is your founding father, Alex Cooper with Call Her Daddy. Nellie Furtado, welcome to Call Her Daddy. Hi. I am so happy we are finally doing this. I'm the biggest fan. Thank you for coming today. Oh my gosh. This is so fun. I've only been here a few minutes. I'm having so much fun. I'm having so much fun. We have to tell the daddy gang, who are my audience, first of all, daddy gang, Nellie's daughter is daddy gang. Can you tell me what did she say when she found out that you were coming and call her daddy? Well, she's been wanting me to come on the show forever.
Starting point is 00:00:36 She's been talking about it since we started making music for this album, some of it together. And I was like, yeah, I mean, I love that. It'd be great. Like your show's amazing, you're amazing. Love your energy. So she's thrilled. She's like right on.
Starting point is 00:00:50 And then I was like, oh, okay, you can come and help me with that. So yeah, her and her friend are here today. They're excited. She'd almost stayed in the room, but I was like, I'm just gonna be like looking at her the whole time. So she's in the other room. It's so fun to have you here.
Starting point is 00:01:01 And it's so cool to like know that your daughter is daddy gang. Meanwhile, I'm the biggest fan of you. So it's all coming full circle. You've had such an incredible career, obviously. You've been in the spotlight. You've also made decisions to step out of it at times. Like when are you at your happiest?
Starting point is 00:01:17 Oh, wow. In general in life? Yeah. Oh my God. Probably when I'm like at the park with my children, just kind of like pushing them on a swing or something. But then I'm also quite happy when I am kind of waving my freak flag at a concert and singing on my concert, on stage.
Starting point is 00:01:36 Cause it's also my other chance to really be myself. Like I do feel very myself when I'm on stage. Like I'm like, this is my chance to just be as weird as I want to be. I fit in when I'm on stage. Like I'm like, this is my chance to just be as weird as I want to be. I fit in when I'm on stage, right? I think though that's like a relatable, somewhat relatable idea of like,
Starting point is 00:01:53 we have these two sides to ourselves. Like no one is just one dimensional, right? Not at all. And that is like key. That is like, ah-ha, yes. Would you say you're able to have somewhat of a normal life? Like if you're at the park,
Starting point is 00:02:06 are you at the park as like mom Nellie or like do people like come up to you and are you? No, I am very good. I'm very chameleonic, like not only in my music, but like in the way I look. So I can be, I like, you wouldn't recognize me. I mean, sometimes I don't care. Like sometimes a little, it depends what mood you're in.
Starting point is 00:02:24 Right? So true. Like sometimes you're like it depends what mood you're in. Right? So true. Like sometimes you're like, let's be social. And other times you're like, yeah, but usually if I'm around my kids, like I'm not really, yeah, I'm pretty, I don't really wanna kind of engage in that way. Okay. I have to know because this is Call Her Daddy.
Starting point is 00:02:38 What is the difference in your opinion, dating Canadian men versus American men? This is such a good question. Now we're getting into juicy bits. Just so you know, all my friends know this about me. I love love. It's my favorite topic. I try to set people up all the time.
Starting point is 00:02:52 Poorly, I don't have a very good success rate. So they kind of roll their eyeballs at me. Little cupid, but I do love American men. I do, but I've found some interesting Canadians along the way. You have? I was gonna say like, if you had to say. Some high quality, yeah.
Starting point is 00:03:08 What is your type? My type, ooh, it's changing. Okay. Yeah, my type is changing. Yeah. Talk to me about it. Well, I'm in my 40s now, so I'm about, I'm 45. I'll be 46 soon, which is, whoa.
Starting point is 00:03:21 Love. And it's like a new beginning for me. It's like a very fun time in my life because I didn't really get to be single in my 20s, right? I was pretty like locked down in relationships like from the time, not locked down in a negative way, but just like, you know, I was in long-term relationships for much of my 20s and 30s.
Starting point is 00:03:44 So only recently, I think in the last few years, I've become single again. And so it's so fun dating. I love it. I do love it. Because it's on my watch when I feel like it. Right, you're like on my terms. On my terms, boy.
Starting point is 00:03:58 And it's like when you come correct, you know what I mean? So now my type is like come correct. They ask me out on a date or for dinner or just like, it's all in the way, you know, the words, you know, use the sort of, yeah, I like confidence. I adore confidence. Not you saying come correct, boys.
Starting point is 00:04:18 Come correct, men. I'm upset. That's a great attitude to have because I know I have a lot of single girls listening and it's like, I think a lot of people want to have that like excitement towards dating. Yes, but you have to enjoy being single authentically. You can't just say, oh yeah, I'm out here.
Starting point is 00:04:34 I'm having fun dating. No, if you're looking for a relationship for real, then be authentic about that. But if that's not what you're looking for, ask yourself, what do you want? And if you want to just have fun and see what's out there and that's fine too. True, you just have to know what you want.
Starting point is 00:04:51 But be real with it, yeah. We're gonna talk so much more dating. First, I have to acknowledge, there is another very famous musician that obviously is from Canada, who you actually performed with. Can you please explain how you ended up singing I'm Like a Bird with Drake?
Starting point is 00:05:08 Oh my God, Drake. Yes, we go way back. Actually, he just asked me to come sing again a couple nights ago on Saturday night. He's like, he asked me at 11 p.m. to show up at 1 a.m. and I love him to death, but I was like, I am not showing up without glam. I thought you were gonna say like I'm asleep.
Starting point is 00:05:25 I'm a d***. Like bitch get me glam then maybe I'll roll up. I was up. Okay. I was up but I was like, it was an event. It was like this really fun event in Toronto. And I was like, no, I can't show up without glam because of course, you know, he's so famous.
Starting point is 00:05:40 It'll be everywhere. You're like, I want to have my beat on. Okay. I want to show you my beat. I want to have wanna make sure it looks, you're like, I wanna have snatched. No, two hours, fit, outfit. Wait, like you gotta come snatched to the gods with the lashes and the beat. You're like, babe, give me five hours.
Starting point is 00:05:55 Oh my God, so you just didn't go. No, I could've make it that time, but you know. I'm obsessed. But anyways, yeah, I do love him a lot. He's a great guy. And I think that, I mean, he's done a lot for the music Industry, you know Toronto was a secret for a long time a secret that I loved as well growing up there and making music there In my teens my early 20s, but now it's just so nice
Starting point is 00:06:14 He kind of really put Toronto on a map in a different kind of way in Canada in general But anyways, yeah, that's how that went down the fact that you can be like Drake like I don't have my makeup tonight. I'll pass on this one. Oh my God, so baller. I know, I kind of wish I did though, cause I saw a video and he looked pretty cute. He had a yellow track suit or something. And he looked good, yeah.
Starting point is 00:06:34 Shout out Drake. But then I'm like, what would I have worn, pink? Cause it would have been all videos of yellow and then, you know, like what color. I love that you think of all this stuff. That's what performers do. They always think about what things like pop, especially in pop music,
Starting point is 00:06:47 you think about what things look like too. I wanna talk before you were a performer because like it is such a glamorous life and we get to talk about like the outfits and the fashion and all of it. But before you were famous, you worked as a housekeeper in a motel. Yes, a chambermaid.
Starting point is 00:07:02 Was that your first job? Well, that's a good question. My very first job was actually, it was the same year. I would jump over the fence at my childhood home and I would do filing for a home inspection company. But it was long hours, but it was helpful, I think, to just sit there and organize. And then I got a job at the motel.
Starting point is 00:07:25 It was called the Robin Hood Motel. Yes, and my mom worked there, my sister, my aunt, my cousin, my mom around the housekeeping department. She was like the head honcho there. And so she hired me and I would every morning just show up. I mean, harder in the teen years when you're out the night before and then you get there at 6 a.m. And I'm like, where's the coffee?
Starting point is 00:07:44 Right, are you like, hello? Yeah, yeah, and my brother was gardening there at the time too, so we'd be like Saturday mornings, like okay. But it was such a good experience because I worked there for probably 10 summers straight. Wow. I even worked there one summer when I thought,
Starting point is 00:08:00 like after I graduated high school and I went to Toronto and thought I was gonna be famous in two months, but reality, you know, like that's not how it works. Your goals take a while to achieve. Moved back home, worked there again that year when I was going to college in my hometown of Victoria. And that was the year I was like, oh, I wonder if my dreams will come true, you know?
Starting point is 00:08:19 But growing up doing that was good because the work ethic, because when you get into this industry, woo, the hours can be long. When you're starting out, it's a lot of hustling. I wanted to talk about that though, because the juxtaposition of like being someone that is hardworking, working with your family, and then you get famous.
Starting point is 00:08:34 And I think everyone in the world now kind of has an understanding at least of like, when you get famous, people start treating the famous person differently, right? Is there a moment that comes to mind when you really started to notice like, whoa, people are just treating me nice because I have all these things and I am famous now?
Starting point is 00:08:53 That's an interesting question. I think for me in particular, my parents come from these like really, really like working class roots. Like my parents are from the Azores islands and from a tiny island called San Miguel, like from a tiny village, you know, farmers, you know, like just, they were already like picking beans
Starting point is 00:09:14 and like carrying their water from, you know, the main water fountain to home, like when they were like 10 or 11, you know what I mean? They're already working at the farm by the time they're 12. And so that's where I come from. So you really can't get bougie on people when you come from those, you get canceled in your family.
Starting point is 00:09:33 You can get canceled. So you can, you can't even go there. I have no business acting like I'm better than anyone because I know I'm not, because I go and I'm humbled. I think that's so fun to hear though, because obviously I didn better than anyone, because I know I'm not, you know, because I go and I'm humbled. I think that's so fun to hear though, because obviously like, I didn't know that, but hearing that immediately,
Starting point is 00:09:50 it does paint a better picture of like, how you are so normal and like, even talking to your daughter, like before you came in here. You're like, I need to start being Boosier. I need to air. But it's interesting even talking to your daughter, how she was like, I grew up with like a very normal life
Starting point is 00:10:06 because she had stepped kind of out of the spotlight. And now all the resurgence of everything and you coming out with this album and you know, TikTok and everything. She's like, now I'm seeing my mom out there being like, oh, like, oh my God, that's Nellie Furtado. But it's cool to see that like, you've been able to live a pretty normal life
Starting point is 00:10:22 while also having this superstardom on the other side of your life, if that makes sense. You know what's really funny? Sorry, I have a story in my mind because she said, I remember, you know, be careful what you wish for, right? Cause she's like, oh mom, yeah, you should start working again. And then a year later, she's like,
Starting point is 00:10:36 why are your hair appointments five hours long and your nail appointments are three hours? Like, you've kind of become a diva, mom. And I'm laughing like, well, but you know, this is my job. You're like, Sweeney, you know mom Nellie? Now you're about to meet Nellie Furtado, the superstar. She said, what do you mean you can't pick me up at the airport anymore?
Starting point is 00:10:55 I'm sorry, my hair appointment went over. She was, sorry, she was livid. I'm obsessed. Oh my God. It's like, well, you want a mom to be back at work here. This is what I'm doing my thing. I'm back to work, babe. It's what it takes, yeah. oh my God. It's like, well, you want a mom to be back at work here. This is what I'm doing my thing. I'm back to work, babe. It's what it takes, yeah.
Starting point is 00:11:07 That is amazing. She's like, God damn it. ["Darling, I'm Back at Work"] I read that magazines used to edit your photos by lightening your skin and changing your body. Oh, yeah. How did that affect you back then? It's so funny because I always find it interesting what people cling to in stories. So I did a real like a general interview about with my daughter for people.
Starting point is 00:11:43 But then that became a thing like, oh, this is the story. But then I realized, oh, I get it. It's like, I wrote a song about it in 2003. I think it was my second album. And yeah, it kind of, it's called Powerless and it's like, paint my face in your magazines, make it look lighter than it seems, paint me over with your dreams, like,
Starting point is 00:12:01 shove away my ethnicity. So at the time, it's more about the idea of okay wait like I'm in this bit like when you're young and you're 22, 23 it's like it's a whirlwind right? Like all of a sudden becoming successful at the career you always dreamed of and you know if you're in it for the music like I always was I think that all that other stuff with the visuals and the aesthetics and the, oh wow, they like you and you look great on the red carpet but then the opposite is true as well
Starting point is 00:12:32 and just kind of questioning it all. But it is true, yeah, I bring my own clothes to photo shoots because I was like a girl, like I was 21, 22, young girl. But yeah, you'd see at the time, I think, yeah, the beauty standard was a bit different. So I think that they would Photoshop a lot and just kind of like, oh, I thought I had hips or my little, but it's hard anyways,
Starting point is 00:12:50 because when you see yourself on TV for the first time, you know, you always look different on the camera and it can be a little jarring like to be on TV and in at the spotlight that much at a young age, I guess. So when you look back, because obviously, I think it's helpful. I get what you're saying. You're like, wait, I did such a long interview
Starting point is 00:13:10 and that's the one thing people picked up on. I think- No, I know. No, but I think it's, I get what you're saying. It's like that, I think, for a lot of people now pick up on things because people finally do feel more comfortable to talk about things that were kind of like, hey, that was kind of a weird decision.
Starting point is 00:13:26 Like, am I not good enough as me? Like, when do you, when you look back, like when did you feel your most confident when you were younger? You know, what's so funny, I feel the most confident now. What do you think that is? 100%.
Starting point is 00:13:41 It's now. I don't know, something happened. I don't know, I happened. I don't know. I just had like, I had the 40s glow up. I was just like, wow, I just feel like me, you know? I feel like I know what happened. I had time to work on my inner life. You know, I had time to work on the things
Starting point is 00:13:58 you don't have time to do when you're busy, right? And then you, you know, when you're burnt out and you don't get to journal, you don't get to, you know, go to therapy, you don't get to go do those things. But I had a good time of three or four years of doing that. So I think by the time I got to this stage in my life, yeah, I just feel super happy with myself.
Starting point is 00:14:21 Even when I get criticized, you know what I mean? Like, I mean? Like, I mean, who doesn't read the comments sometimes, right? It's hard not to. I think it's human nature to go, oh, what are people saying? Of course. And then you're like, wow.
Starting point is 00:14:33 Certain things, right? Like, I feel like me personally, I've experienced like my body's polarizing, you know what I mean? Which is so, it's crazy to say that, but it is. Because I see like, oh, wow, why did, it's just like, wow, there's a lot of like comments and people arguing about like what I look like,
Starting point is 00:14:50 or like, you know what I mean? It's so interesting what fuels and triggers people, but I think at the end of the day, it can be really positive. Because you're starting conversations. And that comes from confidence. And I think that's what it is. It's like when you are confident,
Starting point is 00:15:06 I don't know what it is, but I guess sometimes it can be threatening or very empowering. I think sometimes, yes, like people online are like so triggered by certain things, which is interesting because you never know what's gonna trip people up. And the fact that you're saying like,
Starting point is 00:15:20 my body is so polarizing, like why do you think that's been? Well, first of all, my body's changed a lot. I've had three kids. I'm curvy, you know? And I have a curvy body. And like, if you go to where my parents are from, from San Miguel, my body is no big deal.
Starting point is 00:15:37 Like every girl on the beach has the same bum that I have. But it's like, it's true though. So it's all context and just maybe they're comparing you to another era when maybe you looked different or anything like that. But I've had fun with it because I've been wearing very body con clothing and it's very empowering and I just kind of,
Starting point is 00:15:58 I love feeling this confident. I literally didn't even wear underwear on stage till like a year ago. I'm obsessed. Not even, it's only been six months. even wear underwear on stage till like a year ago. Not even, it's only been six months. I only let the booty out like six months ago. I'm upset. Nellie, I appreciate you talking about that. It's 25 years into my career.
Starting point is 00:16:13 I love it. I love that you're talking about that though, because I do feel like people tell you like, oh my God, your twenties are gonna be the best years of your life. And as much as those are really fun years, I do think the amount of women that I get to speak to, it is very inspiring to hear like,
Starting point is 00:16:29 no, it actually only gets better because you do get to know, when you're young and you're 20, as fun as you can have, you don't fully know yourself yet. You haven't fully lived enough to really like know what makes you happy, what makes you sad, what makes you like uncomfortable.
Starting point is 00:16:43 And it feels like I've now had enough conversations with these really inspiring women to be like, oh bitch, it only gets better. Get ready, get ready for your 30s, get ready for your 40s, get ready for your 50s. That's really exciting. Yeah, because you learn, you know yourself, and then you can kind of look back
Starting point is 00:16:58 and not laugh at yourself, but find things charming. Oh wow, even in my 30s seems like a lifetime ago. You know what I mean? But each decade is so beautiful, but I kind of feel like as women, like we just get more confident. And when you can block out the noise of all the comments that are negative, it's like, oh yeah, bitch, my booty looks amazing, bye.
Starting point is 00:17:16 Like get out of here. When I was 37, I had like a flingationship. I just coined this term. Wait, sorry. Flingationship is like a fling relationship. So, flingationship. Of love. With someone who was 23.
Starting point is 00:17:29 And at the time, it wasn't that big a deal, but I was contextualizing it in my mind. Oh, that's so interesting because your perspective continues to change as you get older. And you reflect on different things in your life differently. Like my new album just came out, but I was listening to the one before it, not this one.
Starting point is 00:17:46 So it's like a diary so you can go back and go. And so for me, music is a diary. So it's kind of fun. It makes it fun. Let's talk about some of your iconic songs. Yeah, let's talk about songs. Okay, first I just wanna discuss I'm Like a Bird is such a classic.
Starting point is 00:18:01 What inspired that song? I'm Like a Bird was inspired by, I was in a relationship in my very early 20s, right? It was kind of like a first relationship, kind of. First kind of more like very serious relationship after my long sort of long-term high school boyfriend. It was the next relationship after that. And yeah, I was in a relationship
Starting point is 00:18:23 and I was out in Los Angeles finishing my album, kind of on my own. I was very isolated. I was probably 20, I was 20 or 21 or something out there kind of in this little apartment just working on music. And my collaborators were kind of older than me and they had their girlfriends and their wives up there,
Starting point is 00:18:44 but not me. So it was a bit lonely and they're like okay write some new songs you know and bring them into the studio I think it was our first day working in LA trying to finish my album after having made the rest of it in Canada and I was sitting on a sofa at the time this place was called the Oakwood Suites here in LA and you'd go to the gym and you'd see like, I don't know, like kids, I guess, who are doing, I don't know if they're working with Disney or what they're working, but you know,
Starting point is 00:19:11 it was the place that people went to make their dreams come true, where they would stay when they weren't yet living in LA. So I sat on a sofa and picked up my guitar and I wrote three songs that day. And the third one I wrote was I'm Like a Bird. And I'm telling you, the one I wrote before was trash. It was a really bad song.
Starting point is 00:19:34 Really corny, not good. And yeah, you never know. You might just be on the edge of something good, you know? Do you remember when you played it for everyone on your team? Was everyone like, yes? My manager was at the studio. Yeah. My manager, Chris was at the studio and, and he,
Starting point is 00:19:50 and he's like, Oh, okay. I want to hear what you wrote today. So I played him the three songs and I was convinced the corny one was good. Oh, it was really bad. I can, I can sing it. Wait, please sing it for me. I'll sing it in a second.
Starting point is 00:20:03 But like, it's really crazy. No. But anyways, so. How corny are we talking? All right, so this is the one that I thought was better than I'm Like a Bird. Okay. It goes, can't wait.
Starting point is 00:20:17 It's like, He was cock sure and I was a pussy, had it in the corner, I couldn't come out. He was cock sure and I was a pussy, had it in the corner. I couldn't come out, he was cock, sure. And I was a pussy, had it in the corner. I couldn't come out. And I think the end was like, here kitty kitty. Like I swear to God, I'm not even kidding. I thought that was better than I'm Like a Bird,
Starting point is 00:20:37 which then was the third song on the demo that I had made that morning. No, no. And my manager said, I don't know. Yeah, okay. I think the bird one's really good. They both had bird themes. One was cocksure, it's like a rooster.
Starting point is 00:20:55 I am literally like- It was a little zany. No, this is like the best thing I've heard all day. To know that it was between like a cock and a pussy versus a bird. Yeah. Oh my God. Watch that literally trend on TikTok now. People are gonna cup that.
Starting point is 00:21:09 Isn't it funny though? Cause I actually forgot about that. So like, like a couple of months ago and I was like, whoa, that's crazy that I had written a very horrible song and a song that might be quite good right after. I mean, I'm like a bird is I feel like forever going to be iconic. I'm curious cause that song is so inspiring, right?
Starting point is 00:21:27 Have you ever walked away from someone that you felt like was holding you back, like in a romantic relationship? Well, that song was about that. Yep. So that song, I did want to break up with that guy. So I kind of wrote the song. Oh my God, did you write the song and then break up with him? Well, I sent it to him and he said,
Starting point is 00:21:47 hey, I feel like I heard the song. Like, what's up? No, Nellie. Yeah, I did, yeah. So you, no context, you just sent him the song. Well, I was like, oh, this is my latest thing. Yeah, no, but no, I think I ended up, I ended that relationship on tour,
Starting point is 00:22:06 but it was literally, it wasn't very, it was like from a payphone, you know, on tour, like I was with my band, you know, like it was one of those moments. But it's very normal. I'm obsessed. It's kinda like, you know, your college boyfriend or something, you know,
Starting point is 00:22:20 and then you move on. So that was my college, just like making music and touring. So I only did one year of college. So then I met him around that time. So yeah, I had to make my dreams come true. And I had things to do and places to be. But like not like as sad as it is to get broken up with for him,
Starting point is 00:22:38 it is kind of iconic that there is a man out there that can be like, that song is about me. Like that is pretty fucking cool. I'm sorry. Like I would take that song song is about me. That is pretty fucking cool. I'm sorry. I would take that song being written about me. Icon, icon. Historically, are you usually the one ending relationships or are you-
Starting point is 00:22:54 Oh, I like this question. I've been dumped before. Okay. Yeah, only once. Oh, flex. It is a flex. No, that's not true, two or three times, but more like when I was younger.
Starting point is 00:23:05 But yeah, like being, having your heart actually broken by someone that doesn't wanna be with you anymore really hurts really badly. So sad. Yeah, it's really, really upsetting. And I hadn't experienced that till like much later in life, till quite recently in the last five years.
Starting point is 00:23:20 And that was really hard for me because I wanted to hang on. I wanted to hang on and I didn't get it. And I had built up a lot of expectations and that was really hard for me because I wanted to hang on. I wanted to hang on and I didn't get it and I had built up a lot of expectations and things based on things that maybe were more about me and selfishness, right? And then it was like, okay, like when do I come to grips with reality?
Starting point is 00:23:35 But I've also left, yes, I've been the breaker-upper. Yeah. Do you think it's easier to be the person breaking up or getting broken up with? Oh my God. It's hard. It's easier to break up with someone than to have somebody dump you.
Starting point is 00:23:54 You think? Being dumped is the worst. It is pretty hard. I think- No, no, no, it's the best though. Because then you grow. Tell us. Cause then you go, it's that whole thing. Like you gotta hit dirt, man. You gotta hit dirt. You gotta hit rock bottom. I had hit rock bottom before and it's beautiful
Starting point is 00:24:10 because then I just come out so strong and it's good. And I'm not saying it's like perfect. And I'm like, oh, you know, we wear our wounds, don't we? Like our wounds never really go away, I don't think. We can work on them. You know what I mean? We can work on them, but like, ah, it's okay. You know, you have stuff to deal think, we can work on them. You know what I mean? We can work on them. But like, it's okay, you know? You have stuff to deal with, stuff to work through.
Starting point is 00:24:27 But yeah, I think it could be a good place. That bottom of like, oh, you know what I go back to a lot? He's just not that into you. Just look up, if you're ever struggling with somebody who's broken up with you or somebody, even anybody, a flingationship, something like that. And you feel they're not giving you the attention you want and something's off.
Starting point is 00:24:50 Just like go look up quotes from, he's just not that into you. It is so healing. Because you know what? You do that often? I've done it before, I think twice in my life. Where I'm like, oh. Humbling.
Starting point is 00:25:03 It's good, it's good stuff. Me too, yeah. I'm obsessed with you. You're like, yeah, it's great stuff. It really just knocks you back to reality. Yeah, cause it's that whole, if he wanted to, he would thing. Absolutely.
Starting point is 00:25:16 It's so true. It is, it is. It's true. It were girls, if we wanted to, we would. Right? Done. Okay, one of my personal favorite songs of yours is Man Eater.
Starting point is 00:25:26 How would you describe the woman you're singing about essentially? This is so interesting. So I really did kind of base that off of a woman that was friends with at the time, that was like a colleague was like engaged to her and she was a knockout and just really was did personify that man-eater energy and what at the time what I really really felt at the time when I was making
Starting point is 00:25:54 that whole album with Timbaland and when we're making man-eater as I did feel very I was actually only about 26 or something when I wrote that song, but I felt like there's something really empowering about masculine and feminine energy together. You know what I mean? When somebody embodies both. And I was trying to capture that in a song. And I really feel that when I play it live, it feels primal, it feels like it's for everyone.
Starting point is 00:26:18 It's like, it's like almost like a verb, like you're man eatering. You're like man eatering right now. You're man eatering. Yeah, I think it's an energy, you know? It's such a confident song. I actually play a part of it in my tour. Cause I'm like- You do?
Starting point is 00:26:32 Oh, I can't wait for you to see it. Now Leah, it's like all of these men come up and they're like Magic Mike dancers around me and I'm just in my element. I'm the only woman on stage. And it's like, it is like this empowering feeling when you hear that song. I love that.
Starting point is 00:26:46 I love that for people. It's so good. Did anyone in your team ever when you have like the song you're like the pussy cock, the bird, the man eater, promiscuous girl, did anyone ever think that it was like too edgy or was everyone around you like, we love this? No, not really. I think I was like just making that record in Miami.
Starting point is 00:27:04 I was feeling the vibes. I was feeling myself. I'd spent all day in a bathing suit, like playing with my kid on the beach, you know? Like I was feeling myself in the sun, to be totally honest. And I was newly single, see? Every time. God, newly single brought us many
Starting point is 00:27:18 of her famous Cupid's girls. Oh my God. Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah, just kind of that fresh energy, that kind of seeing the world through new, like I guess red colored glasses or something. I just kind of had fresh energy. That kind of seeing the world through new, like I guess red colored glasses or something. I love it.
Starting point is 00:27:28 Yeah, that energy is very like red and like passionate. But also with Promiscuous, I actually didn't write that chorus. It was Timbaland's idea. It was? Yeah, it was. And then I sat down and finished the lyrics with Attitude, this amazing rapper
Starting point is 00:27:40 that he was working with at the time. And I was hesitant, but my good friend Jim Bean sat me down. He's like, I think this is authentic and I really like this energy and you sound great on it. And I did know that I like, I'll list up the verses and I sounded good and all that. And now when I sing it, I love it.
Starting point is 00:27:57 It's like karaoke time. It's promiscuous is another one of my favorites. I made a really bad music video too when I was younger, which you'll never see. Can you tell me though, like from that song, how has your cause it is a very, again, emboldening, empowering song. How has your relationship to your sexuality evolved over the years? That's a good question. And I will also give a quick shout out to the music I grew up on.
Starting point is 00:28:41 So Salt and Pepper, TLC, Trailblazers, those girl groups in the late 90s when I was a teenager, I was coming of age 14, 15, I was blessed to have that music to listen to. It was like, Mary J. Blige, TLC, Salt and Pepper, and they were giving this empowered sexuality and choice. It was about choice. It was about, I'm in control of my choices. And that was the energy we wanted to capture with a song like Permiscus, it's a choice, it's an even playing field. I think to feel sexy, to feel sensual,
Starting point is 00:29:11 you have to spend time on yourself. You have to spend time alone, you have to spend time, just you have to tap into pleasure, which is joy, right? Joy is pleasure, right? So if you really feel, and embodied like in your body, like I'm not gonna lie, like I feel pretty sexy when I'm like dancing, you know? Like I'm in the dance studio
Starting point is 00:29:34 because it's such an act of self-love to apply your mind and body to something like choreography and to just be, to feel that, I would say it's like almost like an equilibrium. And I think from there you can feel very confident, you know? And I think it's something you develop. I think your sexuality is something you develop, you know?
Starting point is 00:29:54 As when you start, you know, whenever in your early teens and then you do, you just develop for the self, you know? And I think that's a healthy place to start, you know? I think that's such a good like piece of advice because I think sometimes women can really feel like, oh my gosh, like whether they were repressed when they were younger or religion or whatever folds into it or shame.
Starting point is 00:30:12 Like sometimes we can feel like, maybe I just am not as sexual of a person as I want it to be or maybe I don't feel as empowered to like own it. And it's really like, if you know, the more you know yourself, the more you'll know what you enjoy and the more that you'll feel confident to be able to explore. Yeah, it's almost like it's a you know yourself, the more you'll know what you enjoy and the more that you'll feel confident to be able to explore.
Starting point is 00:30:27 But it's almost like it's a quiet game. You know what I mean? Yes. Love, love. You're just on the search for whatever like makes you feel your best and no one can tell you. And you shouldn't ever search for it through someone else. No, I mean, I think people can teach you, you know,
Starting point is 00:30:43 like I think you can grow in relationships. Like I think you can grow and you can kind of like pick up things as you go and like that ebb and flow again. But at the end of the day, yeah, you gotta feel, you gotta feel good. You gotta feel good, right? Do you fall in love easily? I'm changing, I used to.
Starting point is 00:31:02 That was a fear. Yes, Alex, and I'm a lover, I love to. That was a pure, yes Alex, and. I'm a lover, I love love. I need muses, I'm a muses girl. Like I need, I think it's cause I'm an artist, I'm a writer, I create, and it's like I grew up thinking and just feeling like I'm, I love like lovers. Like I love to, I love the idea of being just really
Starting point is 00:31:22 inspired and the joy in dating and that like that. It's like, there's nothing like that, but I also enjoy my solitude so much that I have had people ask me like friends, like colleagues, like, why are you even in a relationship? You have so much going on in your mind. You should just date yourself.
Starting point is 00:31:41 How are you even able to be with, and it is true. I like my solitude so much that sometimes it is hard for me to be in a relationship. Yeah. Because I'm just like, ugh. Get away from me. It's too hard, yeah. It's like I've always felt more comfortable
Starting point is 00:31:52 to be more like a, like a, like an enjoyable kind of like, and I'm not gonna say part time, I don't know what to say. No, what was the thing you said earlier? I don't know. A flippationship, no, what was it? Oh, a flingationship. A flingationship. You're, you're in your a flippationship? No, what was it? Oh, a flingationship! A flingationship! You're always wanting to be in your flingationship.
Starting point is 00:32:11 Is that how you say it? Yeah. Flingationship. Yeah. There you go. A flingationship. I think it's fun. I don't know, I follow my passions and my lust
Starting point is 00:32:21 and my interests too. I do have ADHD and I think it my interest too. I do have ADHD and I think it's affected me. Women experience it differently than men. I was only recently diagnosed, but I read a great book and it talked about how even as women with ADHD, we can pick partners that kind of make us feel like we're in the passenger seat
Starting point is 00:32:39 because you want somebody else to make all the decisions for us and we just want to coast, right? Interesting. And I found that really interesting when I read that because I was like, oh yeah. And I think when I'm on my own, I'm more able to kind of navigate to my whole life
Starting point is 00:32:52 in a way that works for my brain and for my comfort levels. But I do love love and I do love falling in love and I find that fun still, but I think my priorities have changed. I mean, I think that's amazing to even just acknowledge your priorities have changed and you even talking about like recognizing something that can affect
Starting point is 00:33:09 your relationships, you being like, I don't wanna just coast, like I do wanna have more control over my relationships, even you just recognizing that will probably affect the next relationship you get into and how you approach it, right? Yes, and you wanna stay yourself. I think that's the most important thing. I have had a tendency to lose myself in relationships.
Starting point is 00:33:27 So yeah. A part of why you returned to music was because you were going through a difficult breakup. You talk about in these songs, that experience. Can you share like, what made this breakup so painful for you? Oh my God. I need a sip of water.
Starting point is 00:33:44 Yeah, let's take a sip of water. I saw your body just go, two of an hour, sweetie. Where do we begin? Yeah. You know, I don't know. Isn't it sort of like life, you know? And then again, we talk about this experience
Starting point is 00:33:58 even when you're in your twenties and you're growing. Everybody, I mean, I always wanted to have a family, you know, to me and have children and this, we all have that dream, you know, of just kind of settling down and like, oh, now I'm at the Yellow Brick Road. This is so great. Oh wait, and now I'm at the Yellow Brick Road, right? And it comes in all these variations,
Starting point is 00:34:17 but I think I just had that feeling like I had finally kind of arrived at that, you know, Yellow Brick Road and it was like gonna be that for me. And then it turned out that it wasn't and that's why it hit so hard. You know what I mean? I absolutely know. Cause it was the first time it had felt,
Starting point is 00:34:35 you know, like that right, you know, where it was like, oh, you know, where you felt like, you know, you had that profound sense of a certain kind of peace, you know what I mean, and a certain kind of certainty, right? And it's that idea when the certainty just kind of gets pulled out from under you, or the rug gets pulled out, and you go, oh, oh my God, I have a lot to learn still.
Starting point is 00:34:56 I have a lot to learn about me. And you might have had a horrible experience, you know, and for sure, like I went through a very difficult time where I think I accepted some things that I would never accept now, in terms of the way you're treated. Could you share just a little bit, like not, as much, just for women listening,
Starting point is 00:35:20 like, because you can't see it when you're in it sometimes. You cannot at all. You cannot see it at all when you're in it. And sometimes we just love so hard and we love and I'm sure there's women out there too, you know, when we become mothers, we're quite vulnerable when we become mothers because we just want what's best for our kids and we want to protect them.
Starting point is 00:35:42 And I think that in general, I'll say that it can really happen to anybody feeling powerless. You know what I mean? You could have all the money in the world and all the resources, but in the mind, really that is your only wealth is in your mind. And so if you can't feel strong enough and clear enough to move out of a situation that might be toxic for you
Starting point is 00:36:10 and not the best for you, and also abusive in any way, I think that, yeah, I'm definitely not here to tear anyone down or anything, but I think that it's honest to say that it is hard when you're in a relationship that has that imbalance, I will say, and abusive qualities. It is hard to see outside of it because you isolate yourself, you stop talking to your friends,
Starting point is 00:36:50 you don't tell your friends the truth about what's going on in your life, and you live in a bubble, and it's hard to admit that you have chosen to not say anything, right? It's hard to admit to yourself. It is, it is. And then on top of that, the love, right?
Starting point is 00:37:13 Love, you know, keeps you there because, oh, you wanna, you know, and I will say that too. Like I think as women, we think we tend to sacrifice our happiness sometimes, you know, once we're in it. Of course. Once we've fallen in love, right? We tend to, we sacrifice ourselves sometimes. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:37:35 And we think we're doing the right thing. Yeah. So often. And I appreciate you sharing that too, because I think when you are in those situations and you get so isolated, a lot of times you're like, how would I even begin to that too, because I think when you are in those situations and you get so isolated, a lot of times you're like, how would I even begin to unravel this, right?
Starting point is 00:37:49 Like how do I even begin to get away and like to restart? Fear, fear is huge too, because when you have, when you fear, you know, when you have fear, that can be a very powerful emotion. You can be afraid, but you can, it kind of like you created in your mind, you know? You can be afraid, like, oh, what's a person gonna do to me or say about me
Starting point is 00:38:09 or like, you know, et cetera, et cetera, or I don't know. You just, you fear, you fear that. And again, it's heightened when you have, you know, like, kids and like there's whole other things to think about or. Yeah. And I also agree with you because I have talked about this on the show before too of like the thought sometimes of leaving
Starting point is 00:38:27 and all the things that you think it would take to leave. It just feels more daunting almost than just staying. Can you share like, how do you know? I have a song about it on my album. And I appreciate you writing about it because it's like, it's so real and so many women listening to this are gonna be like, Nellie, thank you.
Starting point is 00:38:49 Water. Water. Thank you for sharing though, because it's like, I do think, and it's not like on you to help all these women, but it is like, the more we talk about it, the more people I know someone's gonna be watching at home right now being like, oh my God, if Nellie was going through this
Starting point is 00:39:04 and she says that she got out of it, like I can too. Like, can you share how you knew it was time and like how you actually took the steps to get away essentially? I think there were moments where I almost had the strength, but again, like something would keep me there, you know, where I was like, oh, this is the moment. So I think that, I will say, having remarkable friends,
Starting point is 00:39:33 like I'm very lucky. I have some really, really, really amazing friends, really core childhood friends that have been there for me my whole entire life. And they just kind of knew what to say to me and knew what was too much or too little. And even the hard stuff, you know, I have some friends that I will say to ladies out there,
Starting point is 00:39:56 you know what, those people that are telling you what you don't wanna hear, those are the ones you need to keep close. Hopefully they know you well enough to not repel you with judgment or anything like that. And it's not judgment, you can sense when it's love. And I think everyone has someone, maybe one person or one voice in their life
Starting point is 00:40:16 that is maybe reminding you when stuff is not okay and what your worth is and what behavior is unacceptable if you cannot see it for yourself. It's so true. It's like, you just need one person. Yeah, you do. One person. Yeah, to just kinda be like, no, actually, I'm not gonna talk to you anymore if you stay.
Starting point is 00:40:37 Right. Right. Or whatnot. But like, but tough love doesn't work all the time, but like it's in doses, right? And I think, I'm trying to think of another thing that helped me. I think, ooh, geez, that's such a good question. I think you have aha moments.
Starting point is 00:40:51 You know what I mean? They just have sometimes like a moment where you're like, okay, you know? And then sometimes I guess I was lucky in a way because maybe like on top of it, I wasn't really the one who chose at the end of the day. Like, do you know what I mean? I went through a rough time,
Starting point is 00:41:09 but then at the end of the day, it wasn't really my decision, but then I quickly learned that then, okay, now I'm doing me. Now I'm doing me now. It's such a vicious cycle that you can get so wrapped up into and then when you get released from something
Starting point is 00:41:28 like that, it can almost feel like withdrawal symptoms because you're like so used to the up and the down and the toxic like. You do and then for some reason your brain only feeds you happy memories, it's really weird. Nellie, it is so fucked up. You're like maybe she was actually the best. The restaurant, the coffee shop, like the movie we went to. Yeah, it's like very weird. It's so fucked up. You're like, maybe she was actually the best. The restaurant, the coffee shop, like the movie we went to.
Starting point is 00:41:46 And it's like very weird. It's so fucked up. That's a tough phase. Right? Yeah, that's a tough phase when your brain feeds you all these happy memories. Let's flood you with happy, because there are happy memories, right?
Starting point is 00:41:55 Of course. That's why you stay there, because there are some great things, right? So it's tricky to navigate. It is. It's a big mind F-U-C-K. But I really appreciate you like talking about it that way too, because I know so many women write in feeling like,
Starting point is 00:42:09 I feel so much shame that I'm even thinking about this person that hurt me. And I feel like it's like- No, don't feel shame. Right? No, don't feel shame about it. It's not natural. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:42:21 Like it's natural to wanna, you know, to still feel a multitude of feelings. And it, yeah, it's just totally normal. It's a process. You know what I mean? Because the truth is it's like anything, right? Like how many band-aids do you have, right? And how long do those take to heal?
Starting point is 00:42:35 It takes time. What is a difficult lesson that you've learned about love that you would tell your kids one day? Oh my God, love. It's funny, I almost call my album, Let's Be Honest, You Know Nothing About Love. Oh my God, love. It's funny, I almost call my album, Let's Be Honest You Know Nothing About Love. Oh my God. Stop.
Starting point is 00:42:50 I'm serious. That was my, it was either called Seven or, Let's Be Honest You Know Nothing About Love. Maybe I'll call the deluxe that. I was about to say, that's what you call it in your head and then to the world at seven. You're like, what it really is.
Starting point is 00:43:03 Let's Be Honest You Know Nothing About Love. Oh my God. You know like, the story of everyone's life's be honest to you, nothing about love. Oh my God, why? It's the story of everyone's life, right? It's like, we know love, of course. Like, I know great love, you know, I'm blessed to be a mother and have wonderful family and friends and things like that. So I know what love is.
Starting point is 00:43:20 But if I was to give advice on romantic love to my children, I'm gonna vote for the golden retriever. I'm sorry. You gotta be best friends. I think you have to have an authentic true friendship. It's about partnership. Forget all the other stuff. It's about partnership, but also stay you, man.
Starting point is 00:43:42 Stay you. Yeah. And listen to your friends. When you have a gut feeling, your friends are usually always, oh, stay you. Yeah, and listen to your friends. When you have a gut feeling, your friends are usually always, oh, that's the other thing, your gut is always right. The little voice in your head that tells you, and this is not even this, this is past relationships, but the little voice.
Starting point is 00:43:57 It's always right. And it's so hard, because I know it's so cliche to say, but it's like, then why do we always ignore our gut? I don't know why. Why are we always like, lala? But that's like we gaslight ourselves. I have a song, actually, I think I'm gonna put on my deluxe called Gaslight.
Starting point is 00:44:09 Yeah. Another album title was Red Flags. Oh my God. Too relatable. I'll take these. So anyways, yeah, so gaslight. We gaslight ourselves in a way, you know what I mean? Because it's like boom, boom, boom, boom.
Starting point is 00:44:23 Oh, it's like an echo chamber. Can you share like how do you get your confidence back after a breakup? Oh, me? Kind of like exercise and going out. I started to go out a lot after my breakup. I was ready. I was like, I'm ready.
Starting point is 00:44:44 Cause it was such a long dwindling breakup, but by the end I was like, okay, I'm dating now. This is awesome. Like I'm gonna see after we did, you know, all the ending stuff. And then I, and I, yeah, just went out and had fun. And just, I think I like really found a lot of joy in like dressing up again and clothing, and fashion.
Starting point is 00:45:06 Yeah, because I think I was really wearing a mommy uniform for three years. What was your mommy uniform? My place was a block away from the Target. Oh! What were we buying at Target? Okay, I do remember taking my teenager on a tour. Of Target?
Starting point is 00:45:23 Of a university, because she was shopping for universities out in California. I thought my shirt was nice, but it would look like up tablecloth because it was blue and white checkers, but it wasn't even a flattering cut. And I didn't have time to shop, so I would just grab like whatever I saw.
Starting point is 00:45:41 Nothing against Target, but like. I love Target. Yeah, yeah, Target's fun. You can find great stuff, but I think that I didn't diversify. Got it. I wasn't really like, I didn, nothing against Target, but like. I love Target. Yeah, yeah, Target's fun. You can find great stuff, but I think that I didn't diversify. Got it. I wasn't really like, I didn't have time. I didn't have time.
Starting point is 00:45:50 I didn't have time. Or I just wore stuff that was baggy, which is totally normal. Like I breastfed all my kids. So like, of course you need easy access to the boobs. You do. So you just weren't feeling yourself as much. And then once you got through the breakup,
Starting point is 00:46:04 you're like, you know what? I'm gonna like start putting my cute outfits on. I'm gonna do my glam. I'm gonna get out there. I'm gonna go have fun. Well, the studio helped me too. So I started going to the studio and I started writing. I started recording music again
Starting point is 00:46:15 and I got so many emotions out. Oh my God. I got so many emotions out of the studio. I would cry in there. I would get angry in there. It was so good for me. It was such a good therapy. Wait, is it true that you actually wrote like 400 songs?
Starting point is 00:46:28 I did, yeah. Nellie, can you just like rewind and tell me like how, like if this house was my studio, what I would do is I would adjust like we're in LA today, so I'd be like, who's in LA today? Which of my friends are in LA? Which producers, which writers, which friends? And that's what informed this album.
Starting point is 00:46:43 This album is really just like a let's party type of album because I was getting over a breakup and I was like, my social life became the studio. So like, you know, like I, you know, I don't, I wasn't in the mood to like go away and write songs by myself on a guitar. It was like, no, we're bringing everybody in. I would invite like people after their concerts
Starting point is 00:47:02 to come hang out and make music with me. Yeah. And then my daughter was really coaching me on too, cause she was having fun in there too. So it was like, we're making music now. We're doing, we're this like really cooking now and like really having fun. How do you pick between 400 songs
Starting point is 00:47:17 of what to put on an album? I like to stay up late making music till really late. Till like the sun comes up and I get really inspired and I get my bongo drum, just joking. I'm like. I'm like. I'm like. I'm like.
Starting point is 00:47:30 I'm like. I'm like. I'm like. I'm like. I'm like. I'm like. I'm like. I'm like.
Starting point is 00:47:37 I'm like. I'm like. I'm like. I'm like. I'm like. I'm like. I'm like. I'm like.
Starting point is 00:47:43 I'm like. I'm like. I'm like. I'm like. I'm like. I'm like. bunch of music. We just have fun. And the way I pick the songs, oh my God. It's almost like, I always say like, you put flowers together at a flower shop. It's like, why do you like those flowers, right? And I think it's also like, whatever goes together. And it's like a bit like a fashion collection, just kind of putting it together. I love it.
Starting point is 00:47:58 One session I had had like a bunch of different people who like didn't even necessarily make music. Like I think at one time, like a comedian ended up in there. This girl. And I was like, oh, what you got? I'm very like, I'm a hippie that way. If you were, I would make you sing.
Starting point is 00:48:13 No. Yes, I believe anybody can write a song. I've done that before. I've done art shows with her. Wait, let's do it right now. How do you start? Let's do it now. Okay, how do you start writing a song?
Starting point is 00:48:23 Where does you even start? I'd be like, what's your favorite childhood vacation you went on? Ooh, shit. Ooh, Disneyland. See how it's got you in your feels? Yeah, I'm like, oh my God. So we start there.
Starting point is 00:48:36 Okay, Disneyland. So you're in a Disneyland. So what did you like about it? Just like the euphoric feeling of seeing these things come to life that I always saw on TV. Yes. Yes. Just like, so you'd be like, oh, like, euphoria, everything's telling me a story, yeah.
Starting point is 00:48:54 Oh, seen it before, yeah. Seen it before, yeah. Yeah, you know what I mean? I am fucking chilled. That's how I write. That's how I write. That's how I write. That's how I write. Starts a song in two seconds. Yeah. And then we'd go somewhere with it if I keep going.
Starting point is 00:49:11 But yeah. I am fucking obsessed. I'm not okay that you just say that. Thank you. Bioworks above the castle blowing my mind. No, your voice. I can stay here every night. It's like, whatever.
Starting point is 00:49:23 Nellie, me just being like, okay, for the rest of the interview, just saying. No. And then we call it Disneyland. Oh. ["Daisy Land"] What is your stance on breakup sex? Oh, that's a good question. I mean, I think it's necessary at a certain stage.
Starting point is 00:49:55 It is. Let's be honest. Aren't we honest on this show? We're being very honest today, Nellie. I think that's all we're doing. Come on. I love it. I mean, it's all it's like energy.
Starting point is 00:50:04 You have to like, you know, squeeze the lemon. Right? I think that's all we're doing. Come on. I love it. I mean, it's all, it's like energy. You'll have to like, you know, squeeze the lemon, right? It's like squeeze the lemon until the juice is gone. So that's what it's like. So then I'm one day like, well, this lemon has no more juice. So no more breakup sex. Yeah. I think it's natural.
Starting point is 00:50:23 That is a good take. And I want to hear from other people too. Yeah. I think that's a. That is a good take. And I wanna hear from other people too, yeah. I think that's a great take. I love that take. You know guys, right? Guys, when they break up with someone, they're like, yeah. Yes. Well, yeah, we might've seen each other once or twice.
Starting point is 00:50:35 Last week. Literally, literally. Okay, so are you single right now? Okay, you're single. I'm dating though. But I'm dating different people. Oh, love. Just like, yeah.
Starting point is 00:50:48 You've got like a little roster going on. I mean, I don't know about a roster, but it's like, I feel like that's derivative. Yeah. I think. You're like, I've got a- I like the roster. I've got a plethora of options.
Starting point is 00:50:59 No, I mean, I call it the flingation ships. Flingation ships. So it's like, ooh, like it's like a potential. I will say that. I have like, there's different potentialities and there's different like levels of like interest and just kind of, and romance in different areas. I'll say, I'll describe it that way.
Starting point is 00:51:14 Are you going on? So yes, I'm single again. Love. I've been single for a couple of years. What is your ideal date? I went on a really nice date recently where it was daytime date recently. Oh. Where it was daytime.
Starting point is 00:51:26 Okay. Yeah. You love that? Yeah. I kind of like, I think I recommend the daytime date for a first date because it's broad daylight. So there's a particular date, it was very hot, so it was like very sweaty, but that was unfortunate. I actually had boobs sweat.
Starting point is 00:51:41 A classic. I know. Or just like dinner, like that type of thing. I love being like, yeah, just. I know. Or just like dinner, like that type of thing. I love being like, yeah, just kind of like. Chill. Yeah, just going out for dinner. But I like the idea of dressing up for dates sometimes
Starting point is 00:51:51 if it's appropriate. But ironically, I like never have time. So I like get ready so fast. But I do like that idea, yeah. Would you ever bring a guy to one of your shows? I brought guys to my shows, yeah. But it's like, it's not really fair because they just go, oh my God.
Starting point is 00:52:08 They're gonna just like fall in love immediately. They're like, I love you. It's like, show me so different, but it is cool because you get to show like what you do. True. You know what I mean? But they're immediately in love. I mean, it's pretty awesome. The concert's awesome.
Starting point is 00:52:25 Like it's cool. It's see me go up there and do my thing. Like, yeah, so I'm, yeah, I'm strategic about inviting the win though, right? It's not always like appropriate or the right setting, but it's almost like what would be like the best weapon in the weapon shot? What will be called?
Starting point is 00:52:42 Like what would, like a machete? I don't even know. Oh, like a machete. The show is like a machete? I don't even know. Oh, like a machete. The show is like a machete move, yeah. You'd be like, come to my show. So like, you know, pull out the machete right away. You wanna time it out. Anyway.
Starting point is 00:52:54 What? I'm obsessed with you. What's your next question? You're like moving on. Oh my God, the machete is the show. Nellie the machete. No, heck yeah, I'm done. We're moving on. Oh my God, the machete is the show. Nellie the machete. No, I can't. We're moving on. What are some non-negotiables that you're looking for in a partner? Like you're like, if they don't have this, I'm out.
Starting point is 00:53:14 The self work. Yeah. For actual partnership, like long-term partner, I would want somebody who's worked on their self in an authentic way, not in a surface way, but more like the spiritual side, a little bit of exploration there, you know what I mean? But authentically and also some growth in that department, I would say, maybe growth, and specifically ego, I think. Let's just pause on that. We need some third eye coming into the mix.
Starting point is 00:53:45 Wait, like it's, when the ego is out of control, it's like, it can, especially when you start dating a guy, you can first think it's confidence and like hot, but then all of a sudden you're like, oh, you're a dick. But it gets hard to tell. Yeah, you want somebody confident. Yeah, but confidence comes from, I think a genuine good heart, you know what I mean? And I think for part, you want somebody with a good heart, you want somebody confident, yeah, but confidence comes from, I think, a genuine good heart. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:54:05 And I think for part, you want somebody with a good heart. You want somebody nice. Like, I don't know why, but sometimes we're attracted to, people aren't that nice, just to people. Watch how they talk to the people you encounter on your date, or whatever, when you're dating, how they treat your friends, your family. If your friends like them, if your family likes them,
Starting point is 00:54:23 all those big green flags, you know? Sometimes we don't listen to our friends and like our friends at some point don't really care. Like they have no agenda other than wanting you to be happy. Yes. So when people, when you guys are trying to like math it in your head, like, well, my friends just don't get it.
Starting point is 00:54:38 They don't see that good side of him. It's like, no, no, your friends just want you to be happy. They don't care. Listen to your friends. If they're like, he's a dick, there's a reason. And they're only seeing a percentage. How crazy is that? And they can even see he's not a good person.
Starting point is 00:54:49 But we rationalize in our head. And it's a lot of fun. A lot of rationalization. Okay, back to your music. You ended up taking a break from music. Were you nervous at all? Like how people were gonna react with you coming back? I'm very lucky because I got to tippy toe,
Starting point is 00:55:06 like very slowly into the waters and then things kind of lined up in a really cool way. So started with, I was already making music by the time I kind of showed up on stage after five years with Drake at an event in Toronto and I sang and it was like, ooh, this is fun. I realized, oh, maybe I have something new to offer this. I've worked on myself, I feel different.
Starting point is 00:55:24 Maybe I'll be better at my job now, you know? I'm older, better, maybe I have something new to offer this. I've worked on myself, I feel different. Maybe I'll be better at my job now, you know? I'm older, better, wiser, that vibe. Then I started booking more shows. I booked a show in Australia where I met Dom Dalla, then we make this track, and then we're playing it at Lollapalooza in Coachella, and it's like crazy. And his raves that he throws after his shows,
Starting point is 00:55:41 like just the whole thing, so fun. So everything lined up so nicely that I was making my album while I was getting out there again, so it wasn't so scary, right? It was baby steps. And that to me was a blessing. What did you learn about yourself from writing this new album? Oh my God, wow, I learned that I've become
Starting point is 00:56:01 an even better like producer and person who brings people together because I got to try new ideas. I got to try like, I have weird juxtapositions of people and sounds on my album and I think that's just because, oh my God, I love people genuinely. I have such a curious mind.
Starting point is 00:56:19 Like I told you, I'd love to have you in the studio and I want you to sing. So I am more interested in the craft of making it almost than the outcome. Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah, yeah, interesting. Yeah, like I'm more into just like, oh, the mad scientist part, you know? Love, fight.
Starting point is 00:56:32 So like, and I found such confidence in there this time around. I've always been confident, but this time I was more open-hearted. Like before I used to not like writing songs in front of people. And now I don't care. I would just turn the mic on like this,
Starting point is 00:56:41 have everything blast to the speakers. It feels like you're at a live show. And then we just like hang out and have a good time. So I think I grew in vulnerability. That's amazing. Yeah, my vulnerability, yeah. It's really incredible to see how your life has evolved and like you're such an incredible, talented performer and producer.
Starting point is 00:56:57 And you've built an incredible family and you have these gorgeous children. Last question, what are you the most proud of with this new album as a whole? And like, why do you want people to go stream it? Oh my God, I think the album has a lot of emotion. I think it has a lot of purity. And if you just wanna escape,
Starting point is 00:57:17 like if you just wanna feel, like you know that music that makes you feel something for real, I will humbly say that I think a lot of the songs do make you really feel something and make you really escape. And I spent my time making it and I definitely think it's just really good quality music. Genuinely. Oh my God. Nelly Furtado, I- But of course, I'm just thinking about what do I make now? I'm just never satisfied. I mean, you have 400 in the bank.
Starting point is 00:57:41 Like, meanwhile, I'm like, it's high. Stop. Would you ever pull the songs from the 400 and make another album out of them or no? I'm working on my deluxe right now. Who is your dream collab? Dream collab-o. I mean, I still think it'd be cool to have a song with Drake.
Starting point is 00:57:57 I think people would love that because we're both Canadian, the lore, you know? The Toronto lore. Can you please? That's our last request is yes, Ineller Furtado, Drake's song, putting in the crust now, done. Yeah, I think it would be really good. Thank you so much for taking the time
Starting point is 00:58:12 and coming on today. It was truly a pleasure. You are even better hanging out with you in person. Thank you so much. Aw, thank you for having me. This was really fun. I had a good time. Yeah, I even cried.

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