Just me, a phone, and pop’s next big thing.

IGN For Men
15th Dec 2000

Here’s the first and biggest reason you should like Nelly Furtado: she writes her own songs. Wait, let me amend that: she writes her own songs, and they’re good songs. Unless you’ve been in a coma for the last couple weeks, you’ve probably heard her first single “I’m Like A Bird” floating around Mtv or the radio. Her entire album, Whoa, Nelly!, is a plethora of musical enjoyment, wrapped up in some tasty, happy pop. I was lucky enough to get called on to interview her, and she made it an entirely enjoyable experience. Here’s how it went down:

IGN Formen: You ever been interviewed by someone younger than you?

Nelly Furtado: No, I haven’t. Actually, yeah I have. I’ve done a couple college phoners, and I think yeah, yeah. I’m sorry, you’re not the first. It’s okay, you’re like the third. Actually, you know what? Last night I played a Christmas show, I was interviewed by someone who I think was about 14 or 15 for his school project.

IGN4M: Alright, let’s get into the vapid interview questions what first sparked your interest in music?

NF: He didn’t know the word “vapid,” though. [laughs] Just kidding. Well, I’ve always been doing, since I was a kid. My family’s very musical; my mother has always sung in the church choir, since I was young, and when she would have rehearsals at our house, when I was little, I would hide behind the couch and watch. And her father, her grandfather, her uncle, the great uncle, they’re all multi-instrumentalists and they composed music in Portugal, where my parents are from. So there’s this big heritage in music and I grew up always hearing about my mother’s father who was really well respected in his town for writing and being a band conductor. So I started playing instruments. First, I started singing. Which, obviously, my mum love singing, so I sang a duet with her when I was four at our church for about 400 people. I was singing in Portuguese before I was singing in English. I knew right away that I loved performing. And there was a lot of opportunities to play and sing at school. I joined a ukulele ensemble when I was eight, then I started taking trombone when I was nine or ten. I played five days a week in different bands: jazz band, concert band, marching band So I was very musical. I was always doing musical theather or dancing. My parents were show-parents though, so it was very organic, the love of music in my house.

IGN4M: You had a hand in writing all the songs on your album. What do you think of the trend of not doing that in most pop acts today?

NF: I don’t know, it’s weird. It almost seems like it’s become part of the genre of pop music. But what I think what’s cool about my record is that I’m one of the first in my generation (I just turned 22), and I think that a lot of the younger artists right now are not writing their own material. Or they’re just getting into it, or whatever, right. I just think I’m representing a sort of more artistic view from a young person, which I think is good, because I right my songs and I’m involved. I coproduced the record, I named the record, I picked the photos, I do everything, it’s me, it’s my brainchild, and I think that’s a positive thing for music. And I think I’m representing those kids who grew up with a bunch of 90’s influences, you know? I grew up with all the hip-hop and the urban stuff and I think that’s what my album taps into.

IGN4M: What kind of things do you take inspiration from, for your songs?

NF: I don’t know, just life in general. I used to be in a trip-hop band called Nelstar when I was seventeen, and I’ve done all the dj stuff, the house stuff, the songwriter stuff, and it’s all very melancholy, and I knew didn’t want a record that sounded like that. I knew I wanted a happy pop record, so I purposely wrote in a more uplifting, positive vein.

I’m inspired by everyday life. Sometimes my experiences like “Turn Off The Light,” I literally went to bed one night and had that thought and got up and wrote the song. But something like “Party’s Just Begun,” I’m also very inspired, in a hip-hop sense, which I believe is also very beat, cause I also like the beat poets, and I think they’re very hip-hop. And I love writing that way, too. I’ll literally show up at the studio and not know what I’m going to do and I’ll freestyle. So it’s not just one way for me, because I like writing prose and poetry, too. I like journal writing.

IGN4M: You said you wanted a kinda happy, pop kind of feel to your record. How’d you develop that style?

NF: Well, what happen was, it was kind of like a journey. My first infatuation and love was for R&B and urban music. So I listened to all hip-hop and urban music; I listened to everything from Ice-T to LL Cool J to Tribe Called Quest to Bel Biv Devoe to Mary J. Blige to Mariah Carey. And that’s what I loved, that was my world. I even wrote rhymes for a while, hung out with emcees and DJs and plastered my walls with the rap magazines and posters and stuff like that. But then, around my last year in high school, I started listening to more Portishead and Tricky and British stuff: Radiohead and the Verve, Smashing Pumpkins, Oasis, Poe, just more like melancholy kind of stuff. I think it kind of fit it with, you know, post-high school depression. So, I decided, since all my friends had registered for college, except for me, so I moved to Toronto for a year. Got a job at customer service for an alarm company, and I started a group called Nelstar. It was a lot of melancholy kind of melodies. So I did that for a while, but I didn’t quite feel that that was utilizing my voice. And I still had to learn to play guitar. All the songwriters that I admired were writing more complete songs. So I decided to move home, to Victoria, and go to college, studied a year in creative writing, and learned guitar. And I realised that good music doesn’t have to be sad, it can be groovy, like the way Stevie Wonder is groovy or Michael Jackson is groovy. And I got more into the challenge of that cause I just felt it was more musical and an area where I could display my musical abilities more than trip-hop, because it’s very limited, that whole world of straight up angst or straight up somber vein.

IGN4M: It almost seems easier to tap into the sad kind of vibe and make people relive their sad moments than it is to make them feel happy.

NF: Oh, totally. I realise that, and people would literally hear my music sometimes, like my friends would listen to the trip-hop stuff and they would go “You know, knowing your personality, I would never expect you to make this kind of music” because it seem out of character or something. But it’s only encompassing one aspect of what I can do. I think the first song that I though was any good on guitar was “Hey, Man!” And I was like “Wow, this is a whole different energy.” I tapped into a different kind of energy there, and I was like “I think I have something more to say in this vein.”

IGN4M: What was your intent when you wrote the lyrics to “S*** On The Radio?” Cause there’s kind of like this double-layer thing going on.

NF: That’s my favourite song on that album, I wrote that on guitarriffs all in one go. And I really knew on the production side what I wanted to hear. The song is sort of a declaration of independence. It’s sort of a celebration of having enough confidence to kind of shun all the subcultures and groups you might have been a part of before, kind of breaking free and not being afraid to make a record on your terms. A good example is when I was doing Nelstar, I would never have written a lyric like “I don’t want to be your baby girl.” But this album is about a rebirth of not being afraid of writing R&B stuff, not being afraid of saying, “Yes, I listen to Mariah Carey.” That’s who I am. “S*** On The Radio” is just about not being afraid of myself anymore, not being afraid of my influences, not being afraid of what I can be musically, or of being corny. Corn old me.

IGN4M: Yeah, that’s what seems hardest about being a musician is having the guts to say what you want to say, what your first impulse is to say, and not have to worry about “Well, what are these people going to think about me saying this?”

NF: And the cool thing is, that song’s gotten the most response out of anything on the record. That’s the one that people like the best, and then I’m going “Wow, this is awesome. I can just be totally frank, and people like it. Yeah!”

IGN4M: People respond to that honesty. There’s a lot of references to the sun and the moon and other elements on nature on the album I’m sure I’m the only one who picked up on that

NF: [laughs]

IGN4M Pat: Is there any significance to that, or am I just grasping at straws for questions that don’t sound vapid and insipid?

NF: Actually, no one’s really asked me that before. Well I’m very connected to nature. I used to write all my songs outside, like when I was a little kid, before I knew how to read or write. I’d just go outside and get inspired by the spring cause I grew up on an island. It’s very beautiful, Vancouver Island. It’s gorgeous, right by the ocean, evergreen forests, seasonal changes, you know what I mean? And my parents are from a beautiful island, San Miguel, and I would spend summers there as a child and I would go up to my parents’ farmland and I would sing to get inspired, like Sound Of Music-style.

IGN4M: Spinning around on a mountain-top?

NF: Yeah, really! And I’ve always felt very connected to nature, and when I sing, I conjure up that kind of spirituality, which is connected to nature for me. I don’t know, that’s probably why I talk about it so much. It’s one of my favourite things, so that why I do put it in a lot. But I do feel a strong connection to nature.

IGN4M: You started playing the guitar recently?

NF: About three years ago.

IGN4M: Do you like that more than the ukulele?

NF: Ha ha ha. It’s okay. I’m pretty lazy, I don’t practice. I kind of use more as a songwriting tool. Even though I play onstage I think it’s a good instrument to write on because it dictates a feel to the song, and it’s good for pop, too, because the chords are more pop than writing on the piano.

IGN4M: One of the few instruments you can really accompany yourself with.

NF: Yeah! That’s true.

IGN4M: You can’t really walk around on stage with a piano.

NF: Yeah, and I’ve never really liked the look of that, though. Of the artist with the piano, singing. It’s so limited, it’s not me.

IGN4M: You can’t dance around and get into it.

NF: Yeah, you can’t. And I love moving around and singing. I feel most at my element when I’m freestyling. I think I learned that from Brazilian artists, the way they’re so inventive with their lyrics. And artists like Jeff Buckley, who I think kind of embodies the idea of using the voice as an instrument and being very proud of using the voice as an instrument. For a long time, I think I thought that just singing wasn’t enough; that writing was more important. But then when I heard Jeff Buckley’s Grace album, and he had all of those beautiful covers that he made his own through the beauty of his voice, I thought “yeah, I’m a singer, I’m going to use this tool.” That’s the instrument, that takes you to the higher level, just like an instrument can. Just like Jimi Hendrix playing guitar could take him to another level of consciousness.

IGN4M: Are there any areas other than music performance and writing that you want to get into?

NF: I think I have an A&R woman hiding in me. I love listening to new music. Toronto’s got such a great music scene, and I love listening to new CDs from unsigned artists. I’d love to start maybe my own label one day and start a production company, develop artists. Maybe a publishing company.

IGN4M: You’re sounding like Madonna over there.

NF: Really?

IGN4M: Yeah, she did that. She started a record company, and of all people, she signs the Deftones.

NF: Oh yeah I like the Deftones. You don’t like the Deftones?

IGN4M: Oh, no, I just saw them with Incubus and Taproot. They were awesome.

NF: Yeah, I saw them with Incubus, and then I saw the Deftones about two or three months ago. They were great. I love Incubus, it’s one of my favourite records this year. There’s another one. I love Incubus because they’re young and they’re doing good shit and they’ve got new ideas. I think Incubus is going to blow up and be the next big thing.

IGN4M: See, I was going to ask you what your favourite album of the last year was, but obviously, it’s going to be [Incubus’s] Make Yourself.

NF: Yeah, Make Yourself is one of them, for sure. The other one is Jill Scott, Words And Sounds, Vol. 1 and Kenny Star, Tune Up. I like the new Eminem.

IGN4M: I think my CD-ROMs are going to start a fight because one of them has the Marshall Mathers LP and the other one has your album, so they’re fighting. Hard rap! No, pop! Hard rap! No, pop!

NF: [laughs, makes a mock voice for my CD-ROM] Put some pop in! Come on, you know you want it! You want some candy! You want to feel happy. To want to groove it up.

IGN4M: Well, after I’m done listening to Eminem, and I want to go do some drugs and some violent acts

NF: And do some vicodin.

IGN4M: Then I just put on the Nelly and calm it all down. And stare at my Christmas lights.

NF: I think it shows a international trend towards happier stuff, you know? That’s why reggae is so popular. Cause reggae is one of those styles of music that it’s hard to find someone who won’t listen to it.

IGN4M: Let’s you dance around. Getcha groove on.

NF: And there’s merit in that, you know, it’s not all about thrashing your guitar into your amplifier.

IGN4M: Not that there isn’t validity in that, too.

NF: No! That’s great, too.

IGN4M: There are the straight-up, angry, Slayer-type acts where you don’t get a lot of meaning behind the music, but then there’s stuff like Tool, who are just mind-blowing.

NF: Yeah, there’s a musicality to it. A passion.

IGN4M: Definitely. Alright, now we’re going to do the fun, short questions. What band or artist is irreplaceable to you?

NF: Hmmm what band or artist oh, Jeff Buckley!

IGN4M: Great, that preempts another question, because I was going to say “If you could bring back one musician, who would it be?”

NF: [laughs]

IGN4M: Gangsta rap or old school rap?

NF: Oooh man, in between. That positivity shit. Pharcyde, Tribe Called Quest I like Outkast.

IGN4M: What was the last concert you saw?

NF: The last concert I saw was Radiohead.

IGN4M: Ricky Martin, Robbie Williams, or death by being keel-hauled?

NF: Ricky Martin when he sings in Spanish. He sounds good when he sings in Spanish.

IGN4M: Kids In The Hall or Monty Python?

NF: Kids In The Hall! Canadians!

IGN4M: Alright, well this one you can’t play the homeland card with Mike Myers or Tom Green?

NF: Tom Green!

IGN4M: Whole, 2%, or skim milk?

NF: Soya milk.

IGN4M: How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie-roll centre of a Tootsie Pop, and is the chocolaty core really worth overworking your tongue?

NF: [laughs] Uh none, I’d eat one of those Creamsavers instead.

IGN4M: What’s it like living in a country that can elect a president in less than a week?

NF: [laughs]

IGN4M: There’s no real answer to that. What makes the US look stupider: this election debacle, everyone making a big deal about Clinton getting a little something-something on the side, or our main export being prefabricated boy bands and pop queens?

NF: I’ll tell you the funny thing: it takes that to get people to not be apathetic and apolitical.

IGN4M: Have you ever heard of Tourettes, the greatest band that’s ever lived?

NF: Tourettes?

IGN4M: No, one’s heard of us. It’s my band. I just mentioned it in every interview so I can link to our site.

NF: Ooh Tourettes cool. Do you smash your guitars into your amplifiers?

IGN4M: No, what we do is far more bizarre.

NF: What do you do?

IGN4M: We write a lot of strange stuff. A lot of it’s improv. So in our demo recordings, you can hear us laughing hysterically in the background, because we’re not prepared for what we’re doing and it catches us off-guard.

NF: That’s really cool.

IGN4M: If you could be any kind of bagel with any kind of toppings, what kind would you be?

NF: An everything bagel!

IGN4M: What does that entail, exactly?

NF: You know, everything bagels. They put everything on them: poppy seeds, sesame seeds, spice, Cajun something

IGN4M: See, I get a different response for that every time. No one ever gives the same response.

NF: Yeah, that’s weird.

IGN4M: People like different things. That’s what the world needs. Different bagels for everyone.

NF: And less apathy, right?

IGN4M: Yeah, less apathy and more choosing what bagel you’re going to be eating for the next four years!

NF: [laughs] Yeah.

Canada’s newest export on fame, fears and the giddy-up behind Whoa Nelly!

Nelly Furtado is an “everything” artist, as her musically diverse and multi-cultural flavoured debut Whoa Nelly! aptly shows off. It’s anything but a standstill for the vocalist, songwriter and co-producer who has inflected her personal brand of pop with hip-hop and R&B grooves, as it sparkles with humid Brazilian and Portuguese accents indigenous to her background. While she left the ukulele and trombone (”The instruments of my youth,” she says) out of the mix, the fact that she plays these seemingly disparate instruments is further proof of her range and quest for musical exploration.

Furtado laughs easily and often, its sound, coincidentally, reminiscent of a horse’s ebullient whinny — difficult to replicate, but easy to appreciate. And she has much to be happy about. While others tempt fate, Furtado resisted it by dodging the opportunity to record the career-making demo tape that ultimately led to Whoa Nelly! in favour of a prior agenda of wanderlust and academia. But you know what they say about the best-laid plans Calling from Toronto, where fall is in the air, Furtado contemplated the what-ifs and wherefores of music on a large scale, and her place in its complex architecture.

Do you feel like a rock star?
(Laughs) That’s funny you ask that; I was thinking about it lately. (Laughs) No, not really. I remember being around 17, with my first group called Nelstar, and I felt more like a rock star then than I do now. I think the rock star thing has to come with a bit of teen angst of some sort. And I think I’ve matured a little bit, where I’m at ease with everything and I’m not that angry at the world (laughs). The record I made is more positive than that, and it doesn’t really go with the whole rock star moniker in quite the same way. The energy is different.

How would you describe that energy?
I’d say it’s definitely positive, and with a theme of individualism, for sure — and probably a bit empowering. “On the Radio (Remember the Days)” has a refrain of “Myself, myself” at the end of it. There are a lot of declarations of independence on the CD.

And those declarations of independence are coming from a real place for you?
Yeah, for sure. I think my whole life I felt a little bit different from the crowd. Having the opportunity to make the record and stay true to that and not have to fit into any one thing and having people around me who let me make the record I wanted to make is, indeed, empowering and a good thing.

How would your life be different if you would have followed through with your European trip and studies, instead of going to Toronto to record the demo that led to your getting signed?
I did end up going to Europe, but it wasn’t for very long. I think what probably would have happened is I would have hung out with the intellectuals (laughs) at the university and written some more (I was already writing for the paper in college). Maybe I would have done some more journalism or art reviews and writing poems [and led] a studious existence, for the most part, all the while still in this dilemma of, ‘What if I was making music?’ My confusion [regarding] what I wanted to do [centred] on the fact that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to sign a major label deal. You grow up idolising people like Ani DiFranco with their own record labels. And in the back of your mind you’re thinking, ‘I’ll start my own record label,’ because it was something I wanted to do for a long time, and Canada does have different programmes set up if you want to do that. You can get a grant and set up your own thing and do it independently. But I think at some point I realised, ‘You know what? I’m not organised enough to set up my own record label (laughs). I have to sign with a record label so they can do it for me.’ So that’s what happened; it just took somebody making the whole business seem less scary for me to make the decision to go forward with it.

What other tough choices have you had to make pertinent to your career versus your personal life?
Choosing the record label [was tough] because there were a lot of different companies interested in the beginning. I went with DreamWorks because I went with my gut. One thing I always do is go with my gut instinct. I try not to be too mechanical or methodical with my decisions. I can’t really think of any instances right now where career has taken [precedence] over personal, because I think it’s important to balance both — it such a cliché, but it’s so true. I read somewhere that you should put as much energy into your friends and family as you put into your career. I do think that if you try, at least, it keeps you a bit more grounded.

I think the tough choices are to come, especially with the way commerce is changing and the different things artists have to do now that they didn’t have to do before, such as sell their songs to commercials and have their tours sponsored by corporations (laughs). A lot of [them] pose certain moral questions, depending on what the company is and what they’re about. I think that’s going to be more difficult for me, trying to decide what I stand for, and believing in everything I do, and trying to find a compromise. Because I realise [that when] you’re making big pop records, those types of questions come into play at some point.

Your album offers a lot of eclectic music. Tell me about these genre experiments.
A lot of it comes from who I am and how I grew up. I’m Portuguese and first-generation Canadian. My parents are from the Azores Islands in the mid-Atlantic. I was singing in Portuguese before I was singing in English, and I already grew up with this multi-cultural existence. I was listening to pop music and speaking English at home, but at night school learning Portuguese. I already had my eyes and ears open to a new kind of culture and more acceptance.

Having friends who were also first generation, and listening to East Indian or Latin music, I grew up with an appreciation for it. [I also travelled] to Portugal as a child going to visit the family farm. There were also the pop and contemporary American influences that I listened to my whole life. From ages 12 to 17, I was obsessed with urban and hip-hop music, and that’s why you hear such a strong hip-hop element on Whoa Nelly! On “Baby Girl” there’s posturing and lyrical references which are very R&B. And in “Trynna Finda Way,” there’s a definite hip-hop groove, but lyrically it’s not quite hip-hop, because it almost reminds you of beat poets in the things I’m talking about.

A key thing that happened (and that’s what you hear on the record) is I discovered Brazilian music when I was on a backpacking trip to England, because my friend’s father had a Brazilian mix CD. Right away I connected with it ’cause it was sung in Portuguese (which I could understand). It had this rich instrumentation as well, and this melancholy vibe that I tapped into. And from that point on I decided that I wanted to make a pop record that combines all these influences that I’ve learned in my experiences doing trip-hop, drum-’n'-bass, house and all the indie stuff I’ve been doing. But [I wanted it to be] under the pop umbrella, and also combining the music of Portugal and Brazil. I wanted to use all those Brazilian sounds and that’s why you hear a samba-bossa nova rhythm on “Legend” and you hear a berimbau (which is a traditional Brazilian instrument) on “Baby Girl” and “Trynna Finda Way.” [There’s] Brazilian-style piano on “I Will Make U Cry” and splashes of Portuguese sung throughout the record … it’s an expression of my culture, and more than that, it’s a tribute to everything I grew up with.

Speaking of Brazilian-influenced music (and I know that they’re very different from you stylistically), but are you familiar with Soulfly?
Oh yeah. Totally. Max Cavalera [Soulfly frontman] uses a berimbau on stage. He’s the only other artist in the pop realm (that’s not a world music artist) that uses a berimbau, because I have one on stage, as well. He actually sings through the gourd and right into the microphone.

In addition to co-producing Whoa Nelly!, what were some of the other aspects of the creative process?
What you hear on the record is a combination of things. Half the songs I wrote myself on guitar. My next instrument is going to be the turntables — I’m going to learn how to mix (laughs).

People ask me sometimes, ‘Are you a singer-songwriter?’ and I’m always in a dilemma because I do write songs on my guitar and we produce them together. But on the other hand, I see myself as more of an MC, because I like comin’ in the studio, working on a track and then appropriating melody and lyrics to the stuff we’ve created. I don’t like limiting myself to any one category, writing-wise. I love collaborating and I love writing on my own. And I love writin’ lyrics and gettin’ in the booth and improvising, like a hip-hop MC would. It’s funny, all the singles I wrote myself.

In reference to “Scared of You,” who are you scared of?
(Laughs) I’m scared that I’m gonna hate fame, but I won’t know ’til I get there. Ask me again in — well, no one’s gonna know if I’m gonna be famous or not — but if I am, ask me in a year (laughs). I’m scared of the weird side of the business. It’s hard to not think about all the weird stuff that goes on with being somebody in the spotlight with a high profile. And I hear that happens a lot with artists, like when they first start out, there’s that initial fear. I read an article on Jennifer Lopez where she said that in the beginning, she was afraid to leave the house and she didn’t know how to deal with it. And so I guess it’s just an issue like that [with me]. I’m afraid of people anyway, so it’s OK (laughs). I was writing a song about that on the way here. I don’t do too well in crowds; I tend to freak out a little bit. I love being on stage — that’s my home, but I don’t do too well by myself in big crowds. It depends on what kind of mood I’m in, but I’m definitely a little bit of an introvert sometimes (laughs).

I never would have figured it.
(Laughs) I’m very alive sometimes, and social and outgoing in one way, but in another way, I do like my quiet time, too, so it throws people off sometimes (laughs). They go, ‘I never thought you’d be so quiet’ Or [when] they first me meet me, for about 10 minutes they get one impression. [For example], the video director who did “I’m Like a Bird,” I had met him previously [when] he showed me the treatment, and the day of the video shoot he said, ‘I can’t believe how quiet you are. From that meeting, I thought you were gonna be all hyper and stuff, and you’re so quiet.’ So I thought that was funny (laughs).

What artists do you identify with and why?
It may sound really strange, but I identify with the Beastie Boys (laughs), for a combination of [reasons]. One, you look at them and they’re unassuming, and it throws you off almost. They just look like some skater kids, but underneath that there’s so much more than meets the eye. They’ve done all these great things, like breaking genres, barriers and lines. They’re a perfect example of the underground and the mainstream meeting, because I think their music is such an expression of what’s going on in the skate parks and [on] graffiti walls, and they still are the voice of youth in a way. Also in their political [activism], they started their career off as kids having fun and they made one kind of music, but as they went on they got more credible and the music got better. Now they’re using their profiles to make the world a better place, with all their humanitarian work. They’re being them and going with their hearts. And all the while they’re staying true to what they grew up with, even though they’re a bunch of white kids making hip-hop music. They have no shame; they’re just being who they are, which I like.

I like Sarah McLachlan a lot, in the same way. She has used her high profile position to empower others, even through Lilith Fair — that alone is such an accomplishment and it means a lot to women. I had participated in Lilith Fair [in 1999], and it was a really positive environment. And it made history, which is exciting. She donated 10 percent of Lilith Fair to women’s shelters and charities. She’s someone who’s made great, credible, artistic music and stayed true to her vision, but yet has achieved mainstream success and gone further to empower other people through it.

Checkout Entertainment

WHO IS SHE?:As DreamWorks Records’ latest singer/songwriter, this gorgeous 21-year-old Victoria, British Columbia import just invaded the States with her first major label release titled Whoa Nelly!.

WHAT HAS SHE DONE?:

After dabbling in singing with a hip-hop group and later an experimental trip-hop duo, Nelly began working on new material with producers Gerald Eaton and Brian West of multiplatinum act the Philosopher Kings. The resulting demo led to a deal with DreamWorks. Nelly then hopped aboard the Lilith Fair tour, where she shared a stage with giants such as Sarah McLachlan, Chrissie Hynde and Beth Orton.

WHY DO WE CARE?:

Aside from the fact that she’s a stunning, natural beauty, Nelly plays guitar, ukulele and trombone and sings in three different languages. Her album (on which she penned or co-wrote every song) culls influences from all over, including her Portuguese background, a fondness for old school hip-hop and the music of artists such as Billy Joel, Beck, Radiohead and Janet Jackson.

Playboy.com: Has life changed drastically since signing a major label record deal?

Nelly Furtado: No. You’d think I’d be stressed out, but it’s more like the anticipation a kid feels when Christmas is coming.

PB: Does the busy schedule leave you time to do normal girl stuff like go shopping and date?

NF: Not really, but I can’t complain. It’s an active, fun lifestyle, and I’m meeting people all the time. As far as shopping goes, I just bought a cell phone that I haven’t used in a couple of weeks because I lost the charger and I’m too lazy to go to the store and get another one.

PB: Do you have a lot of groupies trying to date you?

NF: There was one group of guys who travelled to three different shows, but I don’t think they were interested in dating, they just liked hanging with me and the band.

PB: Yeah, right. Sounds like you’re building a harem.

NF: All the fans so far have been super-cute, and they’re not that much younger than me. So, yeah, it’s turning out how I wanted with all these cute little hip-hop skater boys as fans. I guess I’m all right with that.

PB: Aside from the mobile phone, have you made any major purchases?

NF: Not really. If the album does well, I’ll probably buy some stuff for my parents. I’d get my dad a new truck because his is looking kind of shabby.

PB: You sound like such a good girl, but we understand you used to hang with a rough crew up in Canada.

NF: The Portuguese Mafia. Those girls were rough and tough.

PB: Did you ever kick anyone’s ass?

NF: Yeah, unfortunately. Nothing serious, just silly little girl scraps. We were mostly all talk: “Yeah, I heard you said something `ad about me — you’re dead, man!” And nothing happens and you end up getting suspended before you can even do anything. “Nelly Furtado, please come to the principal’s office.” I was kind of a nerd at the same time. I played in the school band, but I managed to somehow be cool at the same time — it kept me balanced.

PB: Did you feel sheltered where you grew up?

NF: Victoria’s a small city, which is great when you’re a kid, but then you become a teenager and you get bored and it reminds you of those suburban movies where the kids are hanging out at McDonald’s getting free refills and bumming cigarettes off people. But great things came out of that, too. You’d be hanging at the mall with the hip-hop kids and they’d be freestyling or doing graffiti — it’s actually great creatively.

PB: Have you been getting a lot of comparisons to Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera?

NF: Yeah, but it’s kinda funny. This serious news anchorwoman was doing an interview with me, and she was like, “So what separates you from Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and ‘N Sync?” And I was like, “Um, no choreography onstage. Have you heard my album or seen my show? Because it’s so different.” The only thing similar is that you look at my album cover and I look very young — like 18. So I’m not blaming people for making those comparisons, and I’m fine with it.

I guess people in this industry these days are kinda jaded, and whenever they see a new artist like me they think, She’s pretty, she’s young — the CD cover looks like Christina Aguilera so she must sound like that. Or they think I’m just a product of the label. I don’t mind that because then they hear the record or they go to the show and they’re usually blown away. I’m actually hoping I get compared to them because then we can trick the little kiddies into buying my CD.

PB: Regardless of what critics think, we really like the album cover art.

NF: Honestly, I didn’t have to put that picture of me on the cover that way, but I wanted to because I’m 21 now — what am I going to do, have a cover like that when I’m 30?

PB: Then you don’t have a problem using sex appeal to sell an album?

NF: I don’t know if I’m doing it overtly, but I do know that it makes for a better image on paper. I don’t like being artsy for artsy’s sake. It’s my first record and people have to know what I look like. So what am I going to do, put a picture of a drum on the cover? It’s not like it doesn’t have any artistic relevance behind it. My record is fashioned with reference to some of the old Brazilian records that inspired my album musically. That’s why you see the flowery writing and the tall grass. So if by coincidence it’s sexy then, oh well, I guess I’m sexy.

PB: We noticed that you don’t have the ubiquitous navel ring yet.

NF: I’m au naturel — a hippie girl. All my friends have them.

PB: Any hidden tattoos?

NF: No, I can’t devote myself to one musical genre, and I also can’t devote myself to one symbol.

PB: If you had to pick one, what would you get?

NF: The Playboy Bunny! No, just kidding. I’d probably get a symbol that refers to my heritage.

By Erik Cavagnuolo, Playboy.com