few Spanish-language music artists , including Alex Cuba , Juan Luis Guerra , Julieta Venegas and La Mala Rodriguez , as well as English-language artist Josh Groban . The first single off the album , '' Manos Al Aire , '' made history as it marked the first time a North American artist reached No. 1 on Billboard 's Hot Latin Songs chart with a song that was originally written in Spanish , rather than a translated version of an English-language song . Furtado spoke with CNN about her passion for Spanish , why she feels like an artist reborn and the career path she hopes to take . CNN : What was the inspiration for the new album ? Nelly Furtado : There were so many inspirations . The language was the biggest inspiration . I 've sang so much in Spanish in the past , and also Portuguese . I get a lot of joy in singing in Latin languages . It expresses the Latin side of me . Watch Furtado talk about her new album '' My parents were born in Portugal and they raised us in Canada . We grew up speaking Portuguese and then I
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Singer Nelly Furtado is trying to cross over in a direction many artists do n't ordinarily take . Singer Nelly Furtado says she enjoys diversity in music and broadening her fan base . With `` Mi Plan , '' the Grammy Award-winning singer is taping into a brand new market and fan base , almost a decade after she came to fame in 2000 with the single `` I 'm Like a Bird . '' While the Canadian-born singer -- whose parents are Portuguese -- has sung in Spanish before , `` Mi Plan '' is the first time she has recorded an entire album in Spanish , a language she said she learned as a teen . It 's seems like a natural progression for Furtado , an artist often noted for diversity in her sound . A few years after her breakthrough , Furtado teamed up with superproducer Timbaland for her 2006 album `` Loose , '' a collaboration that gained her scores of hip-hop and R&B fans as well , and spawned hits such as `` Promiscuous '' and `` Say It Right . '' `` Mi Plan '' pairs her with a