Nelly Furtado

When Nelly Furtado appeared with her neo-hippie, multiculti debut, Whoa, Nelly!, in 2001, a dance-diva makeover seemed like an impossibility, but the singer/songwriter revived and sustained her career with the sexually charged Loose in 2006, in the process consolidating her position as one of the most unpredictable artists of her decade. Furtado always proudly displayed her Portuguese heritage, a distinction that separated her from legions of emerging female singer/songwriters in the early days of the new millennium, but her uniqueness didn’t cease there: she had an ear for elliptical yet memorable melodies, a taste for Brit-pop balanced by an immersion in modern R&B and hip-hop. All this surfaced on Whoa, Nelly! and its hits “Turn Off the Light” and “I’m Like a Bird,” but she really pushed her rhythmic influences to the forefront on Loose, resulting in “Promiscuous” and “Man Eater,” her biggest hits to date, and suggesting that Furtado had many avenues yet to explore.

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