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"Promiscuous" is a pop-hip hop song written by Canadian singer Nelly Furtado, featured artist Timbaland, Nate Hills and Timothy "Attitude" Clayton for Furtado's third studio album Loose (2006). It was produced by Timbaland and Danja and, in North America, released as the album's first single on April 25, 2006 (see 2006 in music). It is Furtado's most successful single in North America, reaching number one in Canada, New Zealand, and the United States.

Song information

"Promiscuous" was one of the first records Furtado worked on with Alabama rapper-songwriter and labelmate Timothy Clayton, aka MC Attitude. The singer described their teamwork as something she "had never done before", as she saw the writing process as "extremely freeing" due to the MC's different but characteristic approach and style. After all, he was the one who helped Furtado to experiment with interpreting the character of the "promiscuous girl", the main protagonist in the two-sided relationship that the lyrics of the song deal with.

Because of the preponderant musical influence of artists like Talking Heads, Blondie, Madonna, The Police and Eurythmics, whom producers Timbaland and Danja listened to while writing the album, "Promiscuous" also takes inspiration from popular 1980s music.

"Promiscuous" was officially released as the album's first single on April 25, 2006 in Canada and the United States, before it was made available as a download (via iTunes Music Store) on May 25, 2006. In Europe and Asia, the single will be released around August/September 2006. "Promiscuous" is also featured in the Spring/Summer '06 Verizon VCast Music Phone advertisements.

A reference to basketball player Steve Nash in the song's lyrics led to speculation that he and Furtado were romantically involved, but he said "I'm flattered that she put me in her song, but I'm completely in love with my wife and two little baby girls".

Chart performance

On January 8 2006, a thirty-second clip of the song leaked onto the internet. By January 17 2006, the entire track had leaked. Pre-released to digital music stores in Canada and the U.S. on April 25 2006, "Promiscuous" reached number one on both countries' iTunes charts.

In Canada the song's music video debuted on MuchMusic's MuchOnDemand after a high profile interview with Furtado. On May 4 2006 "Promiscuous" debuted within the top five on the Canadian Singles Chart, and on June 1 it became Furtado's first Canadian number-one single. After descending from the top ten, it reascended to number two because of the release of Loose. The song has continued its top-fifty run and is still selling strongly. "Promiscuous" became a club hit, topping the Canadian Dance Chart for eight weeks, from July 25 2006. It peaked at number two for three weeks on the BDS Airplay Chart and is Furtado's most successful release in her home country since "I'm like a Bird" (2000).

In the U.S. the song debuted on the Billboard Bubbling Under Singles at number sixteen. It entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 a week later in early May at number sixty-four, the highest debut for that week. It proved very popular, acquiring greatest sales and airplay gainer statuses for some weeks, and in its eighth week the single was at the top of the chart. David Hiatt of Rolling Stone said of the song's popularity, "There's something about that male-female interplay that screams to pop radio, 'Play me!'" "Promiscuous" was Nelly Furtado's first number-one single in the United States, and it stayed at the top for six weeks, making it the longest running U.S. number-one single of the year. The single topped Billboard's Pop 100 chart and reached the top forty on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

"Promiscuous" debuted at number five in the Australian ARIA singles chart and rose to number two in its third and eighth weeks. It has achieved platinum status (70,000+ units sold). On August 9 2006 "Promiscuous" became the eleventh song to sell over one million digital downloads in the U.S. The single was released in Europe on August 18 and reached the top five in the United Kingdom.

Music video

The music video for "Promiscuous" was directed by Canadian director Little X. Little X appears as a cameo in the video dancing with Furtado as well as directing. It contains cameo appearances of Justin Timberlake and Keri Hilson dancing in the video with the extras which included Hip hop model Bria Myles.

The video does not follow any substantial plot; per Furtado's request, the focus is on scenes about dancing and flirting, as she wanted to re-create the indicative vibe of the song, taking the opportunity to make a club video for the first time. While filming, Nelly stated: "It's that whole dance that goes on. There's that mystery there, the fun, playful sexiness, the verbal Ping-Pong game. A lot of people can relate to that." The video features Nelly and Timbaland going back and forth over whether they're going to hook up, hitting on others on the dance floor and on the phone to keep their options open. Their single performances are intercut by several shots of the dancing crowd, changing between artificial lighting in either yellow, green, red or blue colors.

The video for "Promiscuous" world-premiered on May 3, 2006 on MTV's Total Request Live. After twenty-one days on the TRL countdown, the video hit number one on June 15. It recently was nominated for 3 Video Music Awards including Best Female Video.

Formats and track listings

Official versions and remixes

• JoSH Desi remix
• Ralphi Rosario radio edit (3:41)
• Ralphi Rosario Dirty Vox (9:13)
• Ralphi Rosario Dirty dub (9:11)
• Sean Coughlin remixes (3:57) and (5:26)
• Axwell remix (6:01)
• Richard Morel's Pink Noise vocal mix (6:41)
• Richard Morel's Pink Noise dub mix (7:00)
• Richard Morel's Pink Noise edit (3:38)
• Richard Humpty Vission ReRub (5:51)
• Margarita Q Reggaeton mix (4:33)
• SugarDip Sax Something mix
• Acoustic/Stripped (featuring DJ Socrates)
• Featuring Pitbull & Rick Ross

Credits and personnel

• Lead vocals: Nelly Furtado, Timbaland
• Audio mixing: Marcella Araica, Demacio Castellon
• Vocal production: Jim Beanz
• Background vocals: Nelly Furtado, Jim Beanz
• Engineers: James Roach, Kobla Tetey
• Drums: Danja, Timbaland
• Keyboards: Danja, Timbaland

Charts

Notes

2. Koha, Nui Te. "Songbird sexy and soaring ". The Sunday Herald Sun. July 23 2006. Retrieved September 18 2006.
3. Hope, Clover. "Rihanna Stays Strong On Hot 100". Billboard. May 11 2006. Retrieved September 23 2006.
4. Hope, Clover. "Chamillionaire Retains Top Spot On Hot 100". Billboard. June 1 2006. Retrieved September 23 2006; Hope, Clover. "Hicks Dethrones Shakira On Hot 100". Billboard. June 22 2006. Retrieved September 23 2006
5. Coyle, Jake. "Nelly Furtado's 'Promiscuous' proves old pop tradition still alive". Associated Press. June 17 2006. Retrieved September 19 2006.
6. Hope, Clover. "Fergie's 'Bridge' Steamrolls To No. 1 On Hot 100". Billboard. August 10 2006. Retrieved September 23 2006; Bronson, Fred. "Chart Beat". Billboard. July 27 2006. Retrieved September 23 2006

References

• "Nelly Furtado - Artist Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved September 23 2006.
• "Nelly Furtado and Timbaland - Promiscuous". MusicSquare. Retrieved September 23 2006.
• "Nelly Furtado - Billboard Singles". All Music Guide. Retrieved September 23 2006.

• 2006 singles
• 2000s pop songs (first decade)
• Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
• Billboard Pop 100 number-one singles
• Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one singles
• Number-one singles in Canada
• RIANZ number-one singles
• Nelly Furtado songs