Its been quite some time since I chose an artist of the month for my blog. This morning I just felt like doing it. So heres presenting, one of my favorite singers, who I think has one of the most beautiful, fun voices and whose songs I just loooove listening to….. Nelly Furtado.
Nelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She was born on December 2, 1978, in the Canadian city of Victoria, British Columbia to Portuguese parents, Maria Manuela and António José Furtado. Furtado has a strong connection with Portuguese culture and also holds Portuguese citizenship. At age four she began performing and singing in Portuguese. She was named after Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim. Raised in a Roman Catholic home, Furtado first sang at the age of four when she performed a duet with her mother at a church on Portugal Day. Although remaining unclear about her religious beliefs, she still affirms a belief in God, the Ten Commandments, and in avoiding the Seven Sins.
She began playing instruments at the age of nine, learning the trombone, ukulele, and, in later years, the guitar and keyboards. At the age of 12, she began writing songs, and as a teenager, she performed in a Portuguese marching band. Furtado has acknowledged her family as the source of her strong work ethic; she spent eight summers working as a chambermaid with her mother, who was a housekeeper in Victoria. She has stated that coming from a working class background has shaped her identity in a positive way.
The first musicians Furtado interacted with were underground rappers and DJs. During a visit to Toronto the summer after eleventh grade, Furtado met Tallis Newkirk, member of the hip hop group Plains of Fascination. She contributed vocals to their 1996 album, Join the Ranks, on the track “Waitin’ 4 the Streets”. After graduating from Mount Douglas Secondary School in 1996, she moved to Toronto. The following year, she formed Nelstar, a trip hop duo with Newkirk. Ultimately, Furtado felt the trip-hop style of the duo was “too segregated” and believed it did not represent her personality or allow her to showcase her vocal ability. She left the group and planned to move back home.
She performed at the 1997 Honey Jam Showcase an “all-female urban” talent show. Her performance attracted the attention of The Philosopher Kings singer Gerald Eaton (aka Jarvis Church), who then approached her to write with him. He and fellow Kings member Brian West helped Furtado produce a demo. She left Toronto, but returned again to record more material with Eaton and West.
The material recorded during these sessions led to her 1999 record deal with DreamWorks Records, where she was signed by A&R executive Beth Halper, partner of Garbage drummer and record producer Butch Vig. Furtado’s first single, “Party’s Just Begun (Again)”, was released that year on the Brokedown Palace: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.
Furtado continued the collaboration with Eaton and West, who co-produced her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, which was released in October 2000. Following the release of the album, Furtado headlined the “Burn in the Spotlight Tour” and also appeared on Moby’s Area:One tour. In 2002, Furtado appeared on the song “Thin Line”, on underground hip hop group Jurassic 5’s album Power in Numbers. The same year, Furtado provided her vocals to the Paul Oakenfold’s song “The Harder They Come” from the album “Bunkka” and also made the song “These words are my own”.
Furtado’s second album, Folklore, was released in November 2003. The final track on the album, “Childhood Dreams”, was dedicated to her daughter, Nevis. The album includes the single “Força” (meaning “strength” or “carry on” in Portuguese), the official anthem of the 2004 European Football Championship. Furtado performed this song in Lisbon at the championship’s final, in which the Portugal national team played. The lead single is “Powerless (Say What You Want)” and the second single is the ballad “Try”. “Powerless (Say What You Want)” was later remixed, and released in various varieties. Its one of her songs which is my absolute all time favorite.
Furtado’s third album, Loose, was released in June 2006. She named it after the spontaneous, creative decisions she made while creating the album. In this album, primarily produced by Timbaland, Furtado experiments with sounds from R&B, hip hop, and 1980s music. Furtado herself describes the album’s sound as punk-hop, described as “modern, poppy, spooky” and as having “a mysterious, after-midnight vibe… extremely visceral”. Loose has become the most successful album of Furtado’s career so far, as it reached number one not only in Canada and the United States, but also several countries worldwide.
The single “Say It Right” eventually became Furtado’s most successful song worldwide, due to its huge success in Europe and in the United States, where it became her second number-one hit. “All Good Things (Come to an End)” became her most successful song in Europe, topping single charts in numerous countries there. “Say It Right” was the song which actually compelled me to listen to more and more of her till I became her fan.
In a recent video, Nelly said “I’m writing an English album,” she says “Timbaland and I hooked up in the studio about three months ago and we wrote 20 songs in two days. I was really inspired. I think maybe some of that material will be on my English album.” On December 15, 2009, Nelly announced on her Twitter page that her new English album would be released May 25, 2010. She recently worked with Timbaland on the song “Morning After Dark”, which is featured on his new album Timbaland Presents Shock Value 2 as the lead single and was released internationally in late 2009. She has formed her own record label, Nelstar, in conjunction with Canadian independent label group Last Gang Labels. The first act signed to Nelstar is Fritz Helder & the Phantoms. Furtado released her first Spanish single Manos Al Aire on the new label.
On September 20, 2003, in Toronto, Furtado gave birth to a daughter, Nevis, whose father is Jasper Gahunia [AKA DJ Lil' Jazz, Canadian DMC Champion 1998]. Furtado and Gahunia, who had been good friends for several years, remained together for four years until their breakup in 2005. Furtado told Blender magazine that they continue to be good friends and jointly share responsibility of raising Nevis.
In July 2007 it was reported that Furtado was engaged to Cuban sound engineer Demacio “Demo” Castellón. He worked with her on Loose. On October 17, 2008, it was reported in People Magazine that Furtado and Castellón have been married since July 19, 2008. Furtado confirmed to Entertainment Tonight that she married Castellón on July 19, 2008.
For World AIDS Day in 2006, Furtado, Enrique Iglesias, Kanye West, Kelly Rowland, Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson teamed up with MTV, BET, and Nike to perform at an AIDS awareness concert in South Africa. Furtado also hosted a program about AIDS on MTV, which also featured celebrity guests Alicia Keys and Justin Timberlake. Nelly also donated money to save the Sooke Potholes in her hometown Victoria, B.C.
You can catch up with Nelly Furtado on Twitter, MySpace and Facebook. Visit her official website for further details, more links to her pages, and access to her photographs and blogs.
‘Say it right’ is one of my fav songs!! Nelly rocks…