The Mystery of "I Am"

Song: I Am
Artist: Nelly Furtado
Album: Unreleased

Before Nelly Furtado’s latest hip-hop influenced album “Loose” was released earlier this year, four tracks had been leaked on the internet. Future first singles “Promiscuous” and “Maneater,” the reggeaton jam “No Hay Igual,” and the mid-tempo piano ballad “I Am.” I pretty much liked them all, the first three for their pop dance floor-readiness, but “I Am” stuck with me more lyrically. The music that accompanied them was also excellent mind you, but the “I Will Survive”/”Since You Benn Gone” kiss-off of the song just works for me, and as a writer, I’ve envisioned many scenes between two people with a serious history while listening to this song.

You can imagine my surprise when the song was nowhere to be found on the album. I really do not understand the omission, and in my research have not found any. From what I have researched, the song has not been officially released anywhere, not as a b-side, not as a bonus track on a Japanese version… nothing. What’s the deal? It’s not like it wouldn’t have fit on the album, on the contrary, it’s really a great example of the melding of Nelly’s style with the hip-hop beats she wanted to explore with the album. And with a handful of limp tracks (“Showtime,” “Te Busque”) that actually made the cut, it makes the whole thing more perplexing.

My only thought is that the sessions went so well that she had enough material for two records and we will basically see a “Loose II” coming once this record has died down. This is VERY rare, as it’s usually best to put your best songs forward and release one solid batch of songs vs. two discs of some killer tracks and some filler. (Apparently Gwen’s Stefani’s latest, coming in December, is made up of many extra tracks from the prior album, and doesn’t “Turn it Up” sound just like that, leftovers?) I don’t know what the real story is, but the song is amazing and deserves to be released!

If anyone has information on what is up with this song... let me know!

Enjoy.