Footage has gone viral of Timbaland performing only his “EH” backing vocals to Nelly Furtado‘s ‘Say It Right’ – check out some of the reactions below.
The producer was making an appearance at the Łódz Summer Festival in Poland on July 25 and as part of his set, he played Furtado’s 2006 hit and somewhat hilariously decided to sing his original backing vocals from the track – which consist entirely of him repeating the same grunt over and over again.
With Furtado not there, he was left alone on stage to “perform” the track, with one Instagram user quipping, “Crazy that he still remembers all his lines”.
Another commented that Timbaland “sounds like the birds outside my window every morning at 6 a.m.”, while another said, “I wonder if they did sound check to make sure he stayed in key”.
Check out the footage here:
“Say It Right”: Timbaland “canta” seu hit com Nelly Furtado e emociona seguidores ao mostrar que não esqueceu sua parte da letra. 😂 pic.twitter.com/9T1AabT8Ml
— Nazaré Amarga (@NazareAmarga) July 30, 2026
Timbaland performing “Say it Right” without Nelly Frutado is so funny to me. Man knows his lyrics! pic.twitter.com/Yxp0QEmkMk
— Chappell Ryan (@RyanTroutSays) August 6, 2026
I fear it is real… https://t.co/26PcGP4r7L
— Dave Discoballs (@Davediscoballs) July 30, 2026
Others were more impressed, with one poster describing it as “the most baller shit I’ve ever seen”, while another pointed out that “this man’s grunts were many times the genius small details that together with his production, made some of the best pop songs of this century”.
Timbaland co-produced ‘Say It Right’ with Nate “Danja” Hills and it was released as part of Furtado’s third studio album ‘Loose’. It became her second US number one single and went on to be nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammys, losing out to Amy Winehouse‘s ‘Rehab’.
‘Say It Right’ went on to be covered by Tame Impala in a special performance for BBC Radio 1 in 2020.
Furtado spoke to NME in 2024 about her work with Timbaland, which also included the singles ‘Maneater’, ‘Promiscuous’ and ‘In God’s Hands’, as well as the Justin Timberlake team-up ‘Give It To Me’.
She said the pair “didn’t want it to sound perfect, we wanted it to sound real”, adding that they were aiming to make “trippy, melancholic, bittersweet melodies and lyrics over Tim’s heavy beats and make a dreamy type of mix within that.”
She also suggested that the two of them could celebrate the ‘Loose’ album with a Las Vegas residency. “We could play the album from beginning to end, because I do think it captures the world were in at the time.”
Furtado announced last October that she was stepping away from live performances for the foreseeable future, and in March, she was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
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