I actually feel pretty inspired and hopeful by the fact that protests are becoming the norm now. They're less part of fringe society and more a part of mainstream society. That's exciting. There is no fringe anymore. We should all be included.
Nelly FurtadoI definitely believe that we really need to stop putting things in masculine and feminine boxes and realize that men and women both contain masculine and feminine energy.
Nelly FurtadoI often think about the idea that augmentation has become the new normal. When you start to augment and filter yourself because you think you should, you're kind of putting your worth in other people's hands, rather than having that worth come from within.
Nelly FurtadoWhen she walks she walks with passion when she talks, she talks like she can handle it when she asks for something, boy she means it she know you would do [anything] to keep her by your side she'll make you work hard make you spend hard make you want all, all of her she'll make you fall real fast [in love].
Nelly FurtadoI finally feel content with my work. My fruit has started to ripen. I'm able to dissect emotion properly and distill it into a song that reverberates in a truthful place.
Nelly FurtadoAll of the women in music business understand that. They're fighting in a misogynist world. That's why they wear some elements of their femininity and have to blend it in with masculinity... it's a kind of protection. Somebody like Madonna is strong but soft. You have to be that way in this business.
Nelly FurtadoI am impressed when music matters, when genres are broken, when spirits are lifted, when people make a difference, and when people are true to themselves.
Nelly FurtadoWe may look great on Instagram, but we're still lonely and depressed and anxiety-ridden. I hope, for the sake of our future generations, that our moral compass stays intact.
Nelly FurtadoI think when you mature, you realize that you really don't have to do anything you don't want to do or be represented in a way that doesn't suit you.
Nelly FurtadoI believe the future will reflect different body types, ethnicities, cultures and sexual orientations. I've been working with a lot of young artists who really project an androgynous and inclusive approach to the world. I'm very inspired by that.
Nelly FurtadoIf we stepped away from so much of the victimhood talk, I think that would make a big change for the better. It does limit art. The conversation wouldn't just be one-sided.
Nelly FurtadoI'd love to try and teach Donald Trump how to write a song. I'd love to put him in a room with another person - someone who's protesting him at the Women's March. I'd put the three of us in a room and all write a song together. If that can happen, it proves we can get over our differences.
Nelly FurtadoWe can't automatically think about young women in makeup negatively. Sometimes a woman engages in these new forces and energies of beauty coming into her world. They can become tools. She's trying to express her femininity outwardly. I'm still learning too.
Nelly FurtadoIt was summertime and I was in The Azores, hanging around the small village my parents are from. I was looking out on this very rural setting, on a road going up a hill. There was an old man coming down the hill with a pitchfork on his shoulder. He was wearing gum boots, work pants - and a Coca-Cola T-shirt. I saw that and thought, That's my album!
Nelly FurtadoArt and life go together. I have to have a life filled with experiences to make art, and I have to have art around me to live well.
Nelly FurtadoBecause of my Portuguese heritage, I have an interest in all of the instrumentation that comes from Portugal and Brazil as well.
Nelly FurtadoTouring is a favorite part of what I do. I love connecting with the fans in that immediate way.
Nelly FurtadoYou can have the best of intentions and think you're doing the right thing but you fall down when you're going against your own instinct.
Nelly FurtadoI'm always concerned about marketing or commercial philosophies. I can't feel good about having my name on a bottle of perfume that comes from a factory making perfume with all the same ingredients as every other perfume. I can't feel good about a factory overseas polluting the air for something with my name on it. I'm okay with music - because it's digital or a CD. My music is my emotion in a bottle. But how is a perfume supposed to reflect me? How is a sweatshirt supposed to represent me?
Nelly FurtadoI'm having a lot more fun living life. My new motto is "plerking" - I play and work at the same time.
Nelly FurtadoI'm not into branding - I'm trying to be organic to who I am on every level. I do really connect to being a part of the working class. Those are my roots. My family [consists of] farmers from Portugal, builders, housekeepers and stonemasons.
Nelly FurtadoI can't understand marketing. I think it's because I never looked at what I do as a job. I've rebelled against that and I will continue to.
Nelly FurtadoSince our online libraries are so extensive, we think we can make all the right decisions about our personal health and well-being by pushing buttons. It's not intuitive anymore. That's the internet. Before the net, we would have gone to the community or our families to see what we should do. We often feel more isolated on our own little islands because of it.
Nelly FurtadoWhen you're scrambling to fill the void in your life and you feel like you're drowning... we all yearn to hear that one friend's voice, say: "You're going to get through this."
Nelly FurtadoGirls like to see girls dressed up like princesses occasionally. Guys donโt really care, they just want to get the clothes off.
Nelly FurtadoMusic is one of the only inanimate things we have left. It can still be mystical, magical and awe-inspiring
Nelly FurtadoI remember attaching a wire clothing hanger to the antenna of my radio in my bedroom, so I could get the frequency and get that station and listen to the top 10 every night.
Nelly FurtadoOur connection to nature grounds us, it makes us more spiritually aware. We must keep the legacy of nature materially alive for future generations.
Nelly FurtadoThere are tears. There's laughter. There's an unconscious thing happening between us as humans. There's so much about the brain that we don't understand. I believe everybody's empathic.
Nelly FurtadoAny time you turn off and let someone else make any artistic decision for you, you make a mistake.
Nelly FurtadoI write pop songs. But I think it is sprinkled with a lot of counter-culture references. It ranged from rap to hip hop to trip hop, house, drum and bass, and experimental and improv and jazz.
Nelly FurtadoI do feel like I'm a survivor because the music industry is still a boys' club. I really respect all the women in the business. I know trusting yourself is hard work but it helps you avoid all the traps and labels that come with being in this business.
Nelly FurtadoI don't really believe in good and evil. I never had. I think it's enabled me to open my mind.
Nelly FurtadoI'm channelling my 14-year-old self. She's thinking about putting on her big hoop earrings and baggy pants and going to the mall downtown.
Nelly Furtado