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Nelly Furtado Biography
Name : Nelly Furtado
Birth Date : December 2, 1978
Birth Place : Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Birth Name : Nelly Kim Furtado
Height : 5' 1"
Profession : Musician
Claim to fame : Album: Whoa, Nelly! (2000)
Nelly Furtado Detailed Biography
Nelly Fortado is Canada's newest female superstar. Nelly Furtado hails from Victoria, a quaint, quiet town on the western shores of British Columbia. Furtado found her way into the music world kind of on a whim, a first-generation Canadian, the daughter of working-class Portuguese parents. Her mother is a former church choir singer, while her father -- a fan of Portuguese music styles, known as "fado" -- sings as a pastime. Her grandfather played instruments, and even her great-uncle was a renowned Portuguese marching band score composer. All of these family elements inspired Nelly's passion for music and a broad spectrum of musical genres at that. By the age of four, young Nelly was playing the ukulele and singing in Portuguese and English, and was the trombone player of a jazz band, concert band and marching band, from nine to eighteen. Her vocal chords and dance skills were also useful with her involvement in musical plays. She knew early on in her childhood that she wanted to be a performer, and her dreams were realized via several chance opportunities and events throughout her life. Nelly received a tape recorder and microphone when she was eight years old, which served as a key part of her musical influences. With the help of her tape recorder, Nelly would sample the sounds that impressed her, similar to those used by popular '90s acts. She sang into her microphone and recorded original sounds with the "scratch effect" of her keyboard.
A self-proclaimed R&B and hip-hop lover, Nelly was later exposed to the British rock sounds of the mid '90s, after a trip to her ancestral Portugal. Teenage Nelly's eyes were now open to groups such as U2, Radiohead, Oasis, while she discovered Portishead thanks to a mix tape that a friend of hers made. The tribal beats and bossa nova sounds evident in her music come from the music she was exposed to later on, such as a Brazilian compilation album that combined African and Portuguese styles. The album is the product of her participation in a Toronto young performer's talent show at the age of 18. The manager of the Philosopher Kings, a popular funk/pop group, who was also present at the show, was impressed by Nelly's talent. The only real recording experience she had up to this point was singing back-up vocals for her friend's Toronto-based hip-hop group. But that was enough to cut a demo tape with the recording team of Gerald Eaton and Brian West (of the Philosopher Kings). After much convincing on the part of Eaton and West, Nelly returned to Toronto to record more tracks. Her critically-acclaimmed debut album not only showcases the mix of musical backgrounds -- African beats, hip-hop, folk, urban style, bossa nova, and the Portuguese "fado" -- it also highlights a new talent that will definitely soar like a bird. While many bands and artists make due with strong songwriting or a talent for pop melodies, Nelly combines the two aspects masterfully, creating a sound that somehow stands out as unique (difficult in the cluttered bog of the pop world). Her voice is like nothing youve every heard: not particularly strong, not particularly smooth but distinctively unmistakable.
Singer/songwriter Nelly Furtado heavily credits her ethnic background and childhood for spawning her creativity as a female and as an inspiring musician. Born and raised in
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Furtado's working-class parents, who are of Portuguese decent, instilled a hardcore work ethic during her upbringing. She spent eight summers working as a chambermaid with her housekeeping mother, quickly realizing what it meant to work for a living.
She turned to music for enjoyment, learning to play the guitar and the ukulele, and listened to mainstream R&B like Mariah Carey, TLC, Jodeci, Salt-N-Pepa, and Bell Biv DeVoe. Later, she delved into her older brother's collection of Radiohead, Pulp, Oasis, Portishead, the Verve, and U2, pushing Furtado to fully embrace different musical genres, specifically Brazilian music and material by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Amalia Rodrigues. Hip-hop was also a big catalyst in shaping Furtado's musical appreciation. After high school, she headed to Toronto where she worked at an alarm company by day and experienced the music scene by night. She joined a hip-hop duo, Nelstar, and this opportunity led Furtado back to her hip-hop influences of De La Soul and Digable Planets. This allowed her to get comfortable with writing her own melodies and freestyle rhymes.
When Furtado started cutting loose at a local Toronto club during the week, her musical aspirations began to swirl. Brian West and Gerald Eaton, of Canadian funk-pop group the Philosopher Kings, were instantly impressed by her strong sense of performing and asked to produce her demo. During those sessions, Furtado created some of the moving work that landed on her debut for Dreamworks, Whoa, Nelly!, released in fall 2000. A headlining tour of the U.S. in spring 2001 sparked more interest from fans and critics, and a spot on Moby's Area:One summer tour allowed singles "I'm Like a Bird" and "Turn Off the Light" to receive bigger praise. Furtado's greatest achievement followed a year later when she earned four Grammy nods, including Song of the Year for "I'm Like a Bird."
Folklore appeared in November 2003, nearly two months after Furtado gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Nevis. The record was a general disappointment, failing to capitalize on the success of her previous work. She didn't return to limelight until summer 2006, with her third record, Loose. Produced almost entirely by Timbaland and boasting a much more appealing and timely style, the album earned significant attention, putting Furtado's career back on the fast track. Lead track "Promiscuous" became an instant hit, earning her a number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Loose also topped the Billboard Top 200 album chart during its first week of release in later June 2006, becoming Furtado's first-ever number one album. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide
Nelly Furtado Say It Right Lyrics
Nelly Furtado - Say It Right
Artist: Nelly Furtado
Album: Loose
Title: Say It Right
In the day
In the night
Say it all
Say it right
You either got it
Or you don't
You either stand or you fall
When your will is broken
When it slips from your hand
When there's no time for joking
There's a hole in the plan
Oh you don't mean nothing at all to me
No you don't mean nothing at all to me
Do you got what it takes to set me free
Oh you could mean everything to me
I can't say that I'm not lost and at fault
I can't say that I don't love the light and the dark
I can't say that I don't know that I am alive
And all of what I feel I could show
You tonite you tonite
From my hands I could give you
Something that I made
From my mouth I could sing you another brick that I laid
From my body I could show you a place God knows
You should know the space is holy
Do you really want to go?
Sources : netglimse.com, vh1.com, lyrics.astraweb.com
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