Additional information
Personnel includes: Nelly Furtado (vocals); Field (guitar); Camara Kambon (piano); Mike Elizondo (bass); Russ Miller (drums); Luis Orbegoso (congas, toms) Victor Rebelo (percussion); Daniel Stone (triangle). "I'm Like A Bird" won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. On WHOA NELLY, young songstress Nelly Furtado defies expectations by mixing and matching styles and approaches. The overriding production aesthetic includes R&B/hip-hop loops, beats, and samples mated with pure pop touches and some quirky electronic swoops and lurches. Furtado's songs combine hip-hop attitude with occasional Latin rhythmic accents, but the most striking aspect of this recording is the lyrics. While it wouldn't be difficult to imagine these arrangements being completely effective framing generic pop sentiments, Furtado places no constrictions on her lyrical muse, using unusual imagery, odd syntax, and inventive scenarios that immediately set her apart from the Top 40 crowd. References to a "Mobius strip," "proper grammar," and the "North American dream" are the rule rather than the exception in Furtado's pleasingly left-field style. Her vocals and the production are so seamless that if you're not paying attention, the unusual lyrics might slip right by. If that happens, Furtado will have made some real headway in subverting the pop mainstream.
Reviews
Rolling Stone (1/4/01, p.108) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Top 50 Albums of 2000". Rolling Stone (10/12/00, p.92) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...A wild-ass pop go-go, filled with songs that pursue adventure yet could still make the hit parade." Entertainment Weekly (12/29/00, p.140) - Ranked #10 in EW's Top 10 Albums of 2000. Entertainment Weekly (10/20/00, pp.75-6) - "...Carries you away on a sonic jetstream....one of the year's most consistently pleasureable delights..." - Rating: A Q (4/01, p.100) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...[Her] self-sufficient, Beck-inspired hip hop folk makes for a refreshing change....[her] songs are playful, unaffected and full of little surprises..."
