Nelly Furtado's 25 best songs, ranked

Nelly Furtado is a chameleonic pop star whose adaptability is as enduring as her hit songs. 

She's always been experimental with genre, from the folk stylings of her 2000 debut, Whoa, Nelly!, to the synth-heavy sound of 2006's Loose. With the release of her seventh album, the aptly titled 7, Furtado shapeshifts once more, flitting between dance pop, Latin music and subdued R&B across the album's 14 tracks. 

Furtado is no stranger to contorting her voice to fit a song's needs: she can spit rapid-fire boasts on Timbaland's "Give it to Me;" deliver floating, delicate runs on "I'm Like a Bird;" or sing in entirely different languages, namely Spanish and Portuguese, on "Manos al Aire" and "Força." 

On top of that musical flexibility, she's also a certified hitmaker, with multiple platinum records and millions of streams to her name. The Grammy- and Juno-winning artist remains one of Canada's well-known pop stars thanks to standouts "Promiscuous," "Maneater," "Try" and more. 

Now that she's back from a seven-year hiatus, CBC Music decided to take a look through her discography to suss out la crème de la crème. 

Which hit reigns supreme? Read on to find out.

25. 'Night Is Young'

Reaching deep into her Kylie Minogue bag, Furtado goes full dance-pop on the 2010 single "Night Is Young." The infectious and joyous track appeared on her compilation album, The Best of Nelly Furtado.

24. 'Eat Your Man,' Dom Dolla with Nelly Furtado

A spiritual sibling to Furtado's 2006 hit "Maneater," this collab with Australian producer Dom Dolla nabbed a 2024 Juno nomination for dance recording of the year.

23. 'In God's Hands'

This cinematic heartbreak ballad is a standout from Furtado's 2006 album, Loose, that soars on the vulnerable expanse of her vocals. 

22. 'Cold Hard Truth'

Furtado's sixth album, 2017's The Ride, opens with "Cold Hard Truth," a bold proclamation of independence as she sings with stark confidence: "And the cold hard truth is I can make it without you." It's a triumphant liberation that's sonically matched by big, squelching synths, clanging cowbells and a robust drum beat that feels like Furtado kicking the doors open to her new era.

21. 'Fotografía,' Juanes feat. Nelly Furtado

Colombian singer Juanes and Furtado passionately duet on the sweet, guitar-driven "Fotografía," a romantic ballad filled with lyrics about yearning for a forbidden love. Their chemistry is evident, as they both flirtatiously sing "Y en la distancia, te puedo ver" on the pre-chorus, about seeing a lover in the distance.

20. 'All Comes Back,' feat. Charlotte Day Wilson

A highlight off her latest album, 7, "All Comes Back" is a gorgeous piano ballad that allows for Furtado's delicate vocals to shine. While her more recent output has re-centered Furtado as a dance-pop maven, this Charlotte Day Wilson-assisted number proves that Furtado can also excel in a more stripped-down setting.

19. 'Pipe Dreams' 

For The Ride, Furtado expanded into other genres including synth-pop and alt-R&B — and "Pipe Dreams" is the shimmering standout.

18. 'Broken Strings,' James Morrison feat. Nelly Furtado 

"Broken Strings" is a soaring duet between British singer James Morrison and Furtado. The 2008 track highlights the necessity for complete honesty in relationships, as Morrison and Furtado trade passion-filled verses about being on the brink of heartbreak. 

17. 'Manos al Aire'

"Manos al Aire," which loosely translates to "I surrender," marked a bold musical shift for Furtado, who decided to release her first-ever Spanish album, Mi Plan, in 2009. The impassioned, guitar-driven song shows off her knack for melding warm, Latin-pop rhythms with her unique vocals, for an upbeat, border-crossing smash.

16. 'Explode'

A song about the visceral experience — and traumas — of being a teenager, "Explode," off Furtado's second album, Folklore, passionately tackles bullying, sexual assault and violence.

15. 'No Hay Igual,' feat. Residente Calle 13

This Spanish-language reggaeton romp can turn any space into an instant dance floor, making it a perfect companion for the other danceable tracks on Loose. 

14. 'Corazón'

The second single off Furtado's newest album, "Corazón" came out of a collaboration between the singer and Colombian band Bomba Estéreo — which Furtado met thanks to friend Lido Pimienta. Pulsing with life from the countries it was forged in, "Corazón" also features a surprise cameo by Pimienta in its official video. 

13. 'Afraid,' feat. Attitude

The opening track on Loose starts with Furtado sing-rapping about feeling uplifted from within: "All you need is some reliance/ 'cause this world is gonna always try us." The song is a welcome to the sonics of the whole album: the spacey synths and hip-hop-inspired drums were a new sound for her at the time, and crop up throughout Loose. "Afraid" is a subdued empowerment anthem that crescendos with the sweet vocals of a children's choir in its final moments. 

12. 'Glow'

A playful assertion of euphemisms and agency that flirts with sexiness in its instrumentation but refuses to actually be sexy.

11. 'Try'

"I have lived so many lives/ though I'm not old," Furtado confesses on this Folklore single. Even though she was only in her mid-20s when she wrote this song, there's a wisdom embedded in "Try" that doesn't paint love and relationships as a fairytale. Instead, she finds acceptance in imperfections. 

10. 'Give it to Me,' Timbaland feat. Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake

"If you see us in the club, we'll be actin' real nice," Furtado sings on Timbaland's kiss-off track, radiating spunk and sass. In Furtado's eyes, "Give it to Me" is the "first-ever pop diss song," and with its haunting riff and epic, mind-boggling rhythm, it was destined to become a sizzling earworm that commands bodies to move.   

9. 'Do It'

"Do It" is another example of pop mastery on Loose, where Furtado and Timbaland create an '80s-inspired dance anthem that feels like it could've been a Madonna hit in an alternate universe. From its lascivious lyrics to Timbaland's transformation of Furtado's "yeah" into a recurring rhythmic element throughout the track, "Do It" is meticulous yet effortless.  

8. 'Força'

The spirit of "Força" hits you from the first line: "It is the passion flowing right on through your veins." The lively percussion and Furtado's clear-eyed optimism motivates you to keep on going no matter what. It's no wonder it was selected as the official anthem of the 2004 Euro Cup in Portugal. 

7. 'Turn Off the Light'

The glorious experimental instrumentation on "Turn Off the Light" is psychedelic, folksy and also danceable: no other Nelly Furtado song sounds quite like it. Her vocals bend and stretch, giving off an air of playfulness that shines when she sings: "It's all in me, can't you see, why can't you, why can't you see/ it's all in me, yeah."

6. 'All Good Things (Come to an End)'

Loose plays with many highs and lows, and "All Good Things" is one of the more reflective moments on the album. Mournful, meditative and mesmerizing, this electro-pop lament is wonderfully unusual in its vocal movements. 

5. 'Promiscuous' 

After two folk-pop releases, Furtado reintroduced herself in 2006 with "Promiscuous," the lead single off Loose. From the moment the song's thumping beat kicked in, Furtado was staking her claim in the club with a new dance-pop sound crafted by collaborator Timbaland. Inspired by the "assertive female sexuality of '90s hip-hop," as she told MTV, Furtado's flirtatious tone struck a different chord from her previous work. Even she was aware of that wild left turn, setting listeners up with the cold open: "Am I throwing you off?/ Nope/ didn't think so." "Promiscuous" is undeniably sexy, an ode to those sweaty nights where you're trading lustful come-ons with someone mere inches away from your face. It not only ended up becoming an instant hit — it is now Furtado's most popular song to date. 

4. 'Powerless (Say What You Want)'

The blockbuster success of "I'm Like a Bird" meant that Furtado's platform was enormous. She didn't waste her mic, as Jessie Reyez would say, carving out space on her 2003 followup album for an irresistibly catchy pop anthem about rising up and speaking out against injustice — in this case against the entertainment industry's racist micro-aggressions and cultural appropriation. It's a song that subtly interrogates entitlement and who gets to take up space. In challenging the status quo and inviting the "powerless" to say what they want, Furtado literally made a space for that on mainstream radio, on MuchMusic and MTV, and on the charts. 

3. 'I'm Like a Bird'

"There's a side of me that's a mystic singer-songwriter and a side that's an urban street kid," Furtado told Billboard after her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, dropped in 2000. "There's always a battle between the two, and my music reflects that." The album's first single, "I'm Like a Bird," leaned into that "mystic singer-songwriter" side and landed Furtado a global hit, a Grammy Award and multiple Junos. Alongside the hopeful bounciness of the track, Furtado's carefree lyrics were lowkey signalling that the 22-year-old singer was doing things her way, and in her time — a mantra that continues to be her trademark more than two decades later.   

2. 'Say it Right'

The thundering beats at the beginning of "Say it Right," make it clear that Furtado and Timbaland have cooked up — there's no other way to say it — a certified bop. The song builds and builds thanks to booming hip-hop percussion and a few ad-libs courtesy of Timbaland, with Furtado's vocals multi-tracked to the heavens, creating a magical surround-sound effect. "Say it Right" is a collection of lyrical riddles, with Furtado sultrily singing juxtaposing lines back-to-back throughout: "No, you don't mean nothing at all to me/ but you got what it takes to set me free," she sings coyly on the chorus. "I still can't put into words what it's about," she told the BBC in an interview about the hit. "I think it's maybe about personal, visceral abandon — throwing yourself into something without inhibitions." In that sense, "Say it Right" is a call to embrace freedom: it's a blank page to project your desires onto, all while dancing along to that delicious hook set atop a 4/4 groove. The song's beautiful open-endedness has cemented it as a driving staple, a karaoke crowd-pleaser and, ultimately, a club classic, making it one of Furtado's most enduring bangers.

1. 'Maneater'

A maneater, make you work hard,
Make you spend hard, make you want all of her love.
She's a maneater, make you buy cars,
Make you cut cards, make you fall real hard in love.

A song that starts with head-knocking drums and wailing synths knows that it's about to command attention. "Maneater" hits with a bang and doesn't relent for a second. As Furtado told the Guardian in a recent interview, "a flame shot out of the speaker" as soon as she started recording it. Clandestine and sultry, "Maneater" is Furtado at her most uninhibited and boastful. With lines like, "I walk in the door, you start screaming," and, "You either wanna be with me, or be me," there's no denying she was oozing with confidence while in the booth. It followed "Promiscuous" as the second single from her acclaimed album Loose, and although it exists in the same world as that club banger, "Maneater" has a more vampiric, femme fatale energy (which the music video taps into). It's a dark, grungy track, with cacophonous beats spliced together in a way that wouldn't gel without Timbaland's magic touch. They were inspired by '80s groups like Eurythmics, Talking Heads and Blondie while in studio bringing the song to life. With its irresistible beat and spicy lyrics, "Maneater" unsurprisingly went double platinum in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. It's almost two decades later, and "Maneater" remains an anthem for all the women who know they're in charge.