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Digging Deep – Nelly Furtado Explored Her Ethnicity And Family History In Writing Her Folklore Album
By Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight

Success didn’t ruin Nelly Furtado but it did make her think seriously about why she’d decided to get involved in the music industry. The 25-year-old Victoria-raised singer did some serious self-examining once she finished touring for Whoa, Nelly!, a debut that roared out of nowhere in 2000 to sell more than two million copies. Furtado came out of the gates with a large-calibre bullet, scoring two massive radio hits (“I’m Like a Bird”, “Turn Off the Light”), becoming ubiquitous on MTV and MuchMusic, and travelling the world to sold-out shows. She doesn’t dispute that the ride was incredible. But her first thought when it was all over was that she needed to take a break.

“When I started to reflect on everything, I was like, ‘Whoa, this is really shallow,’” Furtado says, on the line from her adopted home of Toronto. “I remember looking at a picture of myself in a magazine wearing a pretty dress and going, ‘Man, look at the job I have.’ You wear the right dress and people will like you better. Obviously that’s a very pessimistic way of looking at things, but, really, how much more face-value can you get?”

The down-to-earth singer acknowledges that it’s easy to be cynical about fame once you’ve become a celebrity. But while most musicians tend to forget about where they come from once the royalty cheques start rolling in, Furtado became more determined than ever to stay grounded.

“I’m sort of a serious person,” she says. “My public image may not get that across, but I do think a lot. I spend a lot of time ruminating on the world and my place in it. And I think you hear that a lot on the new album.”

That sophomore disc is called Folklore and it finds Furtado in a more contemplative mood than on Whoa, Nelly!. The new mum hasn’t forgotten how to have fun: tracks like “The Grass Is Green” and “Build You Up” are as irresistibly buoyant as the hits that made her a household name not just in Canada but also in Europe. But even when Furtado’s at her most upbeat, there is, as she notes, a seriousness to her lyrics this time out. Nowhere is that more obvious than on the disc’s infectious first single, “Powerless (Say What You Want)”, in which the olive-skinned artist begins with “Paint my face in your magazine/Make it look whiter than it seems”.

“If there was a theme to the first album, it was an overall one of self-confidence and finding my identity, celebrating my individuality,” Furtado says. “With Folklore I dug a little deeper. And I also did a bit of storytelling; taking what’s true to me in my life and using that for inspiration. There’s a definite social consciousness: talking about the immigrant dream and the working class, both of which are things that are very real to me.”

So instead of dwelling on her newfound celebrity and it’s trappings on Folklore, Furtado is more interested in thinking about her family history. The bouncy “Fresh off the Boat” pays tribute to everyone who’s ever started a new life in another country, while “Island of Wonder” was inspired by a trip to the Azores Islands in Portugal, where her parents were born.

“That comes from my roots–the village that my parents grew up in was really small and really rural and really poor. The island mentality was that, because you didn’t have a lot, you had to be really creative. Your worth was measured by how hard you worked and how you treated other people. I’ve never lost sight of that.”

She’s also perfectly aware of how others see her. Over the past decade, the pop landscape has been littered with one-album wonders. Furtado acknowledges she’s got something to prove to the critics with Folklore’s opening number, “One-Trick Pony”. Over a backdrop of club-kid beats, Old World mandolin, and sad-songs strings (courtesy of the Kronos Quartet), she immediately settles into a groove with the lines “I am not a one-trick pony/I really feel nothing can hold me/I really feel no one can own me”. And over the next 11 tracks, Furtado does plenty to back up that claim, mixing and mashing funkified R & B, old-school hip-hop, adult-contemporary pop, and sun-drenched world beat. Because she’s taken a more mature approach, Folklore lacks the overriding wide-eyed exuberance of Whoa, Nelly!. Furtado’s okay with that. After all, she did set out to get serious.

“I’m a very honest person, which is why I’m such a horrible liar,” she says. “So when I make music, I have to believe in what I’m doing. I think it’s important that a record reflect where an artist is at in their life.”

in & out…
Nelly Furtado sounds off on the things that enquiring minds want to know.

On approaching Caetano Veloso: “He’s been one of my musical idols since I discovered him when I was 17. When I first had to speak with him on the phone I was so nervous. I procrastinated the entire day because I was afraid to call him. And when I finally did, I had to have someone there holding my hand. I still haven’t fully absorbed that I actually got him to sing on my album.”

On Folklore’s original title: “I wanted to call it Fresh off the Boat. I remember my brother ragging on me, going, ‘You’re not fresh off the boat, you were born here, so you can’t call your album that.’ It was meant to be a declaration with a bit of irony.”

On having a social conscience: “It’s important to take action in your own life, which then sets an example. I’m doing something cool in Vancouver–a lot of the proceeds from the show are going to the B.C. Coalition of Women’s Centres. Their funding has been completely cut off by the B.C. government. Hopefully the show will help shed some light on that.”

(Source – straight.com)

Hi everybody..Sorry I have not left a message in a while..I was so busy with the holidays..I wish everyone out there reading this message a very wonderful new year. Did you make any new years resolutions….I hope all your dreams come true in 2004…..My new single is coming out within weeks..thanks for making powerless a hit, and thanks for supporting my new album folklore. if it weren’t for the fans, I would be picking berries on a farm somewhere getting a suntan and having ten more babies…so thanks for keeping me in the game. lets make 2004 special .I will be seeing you on the road this year and I can’t wait to play all of these new songs live.

I was working in the studio the other night..maybe ill have another new album out by the end of this year..you never know..I will pull a jay-z on everyone..an album a year….you probably don’t believe me, since folklore was spaced three years from whoa, nelly…I will see where the music takes me… I am shooting the video for try with sophie mueller next weekend. it’s gonna be friggety fresh.. she is the coolest..she did turn off the light.

see you on tv!!!!!

thanks for all the love. KEEP PAINTING YOUR OWN FOLKLORE!!!

Love, Nelly

Nelly Furtado – Folklore

A few years ago, Nelly Furtado emerged, albeit slowly, as a spry pop performer whose debut album, 2000′s Whoa, Nelly!, merged unlikely genres together. The Grammy-winning, Portuguese singer/songwriter from Canada had a knack for modern pop, which, on one hand, led to ear-candy like “I’m Like a Bird” and multiplatinum sales, and, on the other, grounded her image with an adult, MOR-like sensibility that threatened to marginalise her.

Her sophomore release, Folklore, still champions on agreeable chord progressions and easy-to-digest production. And it retains her astute skill at blending different tones and subgenres together. However, it features the depth and focus missing from her debut. Folklore is arguably a concept album about one’s roots and personal narrative, scored by a musical diversity consistent with Furtado’s global, cultural experience. But rather than placing an emphasis on throwing as much as possible in the pot, she and producers Track & Field mix a categorical foundation that, along with the singer’s personal lyricism and effortless melodicism, binds the songs together. The end product falls somewhere between post-angst Alanis Morissette and post-frat Dave Matthews Band.

Banjoes, violins, organs, tablas, congas and other fringe instruments colour the entire album. Furtado recalls various locations of her past, from her birthplace in the celebratory “Forãa” (which means “keep going” in Portuguese) to her spiritual upbringing in the ethereal “Childhood Dreams.” The synergy between the elements never feels concerted, just occasionally overprocessed; the biggest problem might just be that, for all it’s self-conscious reflection, the album isn’t as revealing as it presumes to be. But it is undoubtedly personal, emphasised by the passion Furtado evokes in each song. She has offered a few different entry points with Folklore, and in the process she’s not only lived up to expectations, she’s elevated her artistry to surpass them. Good for her.

Mike Prevatt

Singer Embraces Diversity
3rd January 2004

Pop songstress with gay following earns it through open-mindedness on fresh CD with newfound depth.

By ARJAN TIMMERMANS

FROM THE ASHES of teenpop rises Nelly Furtado with a fresh take on pop music. On her latest album “Folklore,” the Canadian singer spreads a message of tolerance and diversity through her empowering lyrics and exotic rhythms.

In a recent telephone interview, Furtado says that she is a “spunky girl” who does not fit a musical mold. She says that she feels strongly about reaching all kinds of people with her unique brand of genre-crossing music — including gay listeners.

Furtado keeps an open mind and admits past attractions to women.

“Women are gorgeous,” Furtado says. “They are the sexiest.”

Furtado decided to take a long break and settle down after the success of her debut CD “Whoa Nelly!,” her Grammy win for “Best Female Pop Vocal Performance” in 2002 and three years of strenuous touring.

“Two days after the Grammy Awards, I felt this need to settle down and have a family,” says Furtado, 25. “I guess I was looking for some balance in my life.”

She found true love with musician little’ Jaz, and in September the couple welcomed a baby daughter. In November, Furtado also released her much-anticipated second album, “Folklore.”

“FOLKLORE” IS A WELL-ROUNDED kaleidoscope of world beats, music styles and instrumentals that oddly enough fit well under Furtado’s innovative direction. The singer wrote and co-produced the majority of the record with long-time collaborators Track and Field (Brian West and Gerald Eaton).

The singer explains that “Folklore” is inspired by culture, love, fresh energy and other sentiments often associated with folk music.

“Every nation and every country has it’s own version of folk music,” she says. “[Folk music] is the idea of somebody picking up a guitar and singing about what’s around them.”

Once again, Furtado combines musical diversity with a message of tolerance that will likely resonate with many of her gay fans.

“My music has a message of diversity and open-mindness,” Furtado says. “It reflects many identities, whether it is cultural, racial, musical or sexual. One thing about my music is that it’s genderless. Guys, girls, gay and straight love my music.”

Furtado lights up when she speaks about her gay fan base.

“Nothing makes me prouder than seeing a gay couple holding hands at one of my shows,” she says. “I feel happy that I can create a place where they can be themselves.”

She agrees that her empowering lyrics could appeal to young gay fans during their coming-out.

“Many fans have written me how my music has helped them to accept who they are,” Furtado says.

“FOLKLORE” IS A DEPARTURE from the quirky, youthful exuberance on “Whoa Nelly!” Besides the happy-go-lucky “Fresh Off The Boat” and energetic “Forca,” the singer also explores darker sentiments.

“Explode” is a haunting track that deals with teenage angst, rape and drugs.

“When you’re young, you’ve got this electricity, like a little firework,” Furtado explains. “Their life is like a roller coaster, and you just hope they have a little angel on their shoulder to watch out for them.”

The poignant “One Trick Pony” shows a healthy dose of attitude, when she sings, “Nobody can control me.”

The single “Powerless (Say What You Want)” features the Kronos Quartet and deals with the pressure on Furtado to conform within the music industry.

Furtado croons about the reality of life and relationships on the epic ballad “Try.”

On the lullaby “Childhood Dreams,” she mixes authentic church organs and Indian tablas. Equally refreshing is her unlikely duet with Brazilian legend Caetano Veloso on the breezy “Island of Wonder.”

Furtado says that she is not disappointed by the modest Billboard chart entry for “Folklore” at number 38.

“I think this record will be around for a while,” she says. “My first record only sold 6,000 copies in the first week, so I’m not complaining now.”

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Nelly Furtado nearly gave it all away after her hit debut, reports Steve Morse.

Nelly Furtado was a meteoric new presence three years ago. Her debut album Whoa! Nelly went multiplatinum, earned four Grammy nominations and produced the hit I’m Like a Bird. Carefree pop hadn’t been this much fun in a while. She even had bird-chirping noises on the album – along with rhythms from her Portuguese heritage, and hip-hop beats.

“It was a blast. It was a party,” Furtado recalls. “It was everything I wanted it to be. And then I went out and had a party with it on tour.”

The party stopped, however, and it’s been a slow road back for Furtado. Her record company sought a follow-up album in 2002 but she wasn’t ready. As late as April last year, she says, she didn’t know if she wanted to make another album. “I thought of going back to school to study creative writing.”

The “pressure to be fresh” also gnawed at her. Yet Furtado, 24, has dispelled those fears to release new album Folklore . It’s a more serious album that takes off the party hat and reveals her as a mature young woman with a lot to say about the immigrant experience (she grew up in Canada as the daughter of parents from the Azores), childhood dreams, and not being pigeonholed.

She casts out stereotypes in the first song, One-Trick Pony , where she sings, “I am not a one-trick pony/ I really feel nothing can hold me/ I really feel no one can own me.” It launches the theme of empowerment that runs throughout the album, making this a quantum leap from her harmless debut.

“Everything just came from the heart. There’s nothing calculated at all on this record,” she says.

Furtado has lived in Toronto since secondary school but her life has changed and her musical adventurousness has only increased. The new album includes guest appearances by the Kronos Quartet and banjo wizard Bela Fleck, plus turntable scratcher little’ Jazz (also the father of her child) and world music star Caetano Veloso, who is “the biggest influence on my music”, she says.

“I had met Caetano only once and was completely speechless,” says Furtado. “It was at a show in Sao Paulo. You never really want to be friends with your idols, so I was very nervous . . . But what I like about him is that he’s done such a vast number of things, from a Billie Jean cover (of the Michael Jackson song) to tropicalia and soap opera ballads. And he has the spirit of a 12-year-old. He’s very open. And that’s how I try to be.”

Furtado initially tried Butch Vig (Nirvana, rubbish) as producer, but it didn’t work. She finally went back to the Toronto production team who had done her first album. Everything then fell into place, including Furtado’s attitude.

“The entertainment business is so weird,” she says. “But then I remembered how much I loved performing and writing music. I realised that I was going to make music my whole life.”

Many of the new songs are simply exquisite. She taps into the pulse of young people on Explode , a rocking rite-of-passage song about the teenage years, in which “you smoke, you toke, you want, you flaunt, you hit it and you’re in it, and it’s spinning and it’s wild”.

The most moving tracks attest to the background of her family as immigrants. The song Fresh Off the Boat gives a positive spin to the often negative connotation of the title phrase. “The wine tastes good on my sweet lips like sunshine,” she sings, imagining the celebration after first landing on new soil.

“Yes, I’m glamorising the aesthetic of being ‘fresh off the boat’,” she says. “But I’m so proud of how my relatives lived their lives – with one foot in one country and another in their old land. I’ve dealt with the idea of displacement my whole life.”

Furtado calls this her “folkie” album, and she admits to some Joni Mitchell influences. There is banjo on several tracks, too, sometimes mixed with hip-hop rhythms. “I feel like I’ve tapped into a new level of emotion with this record,” she says. “It feels good.”

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The candy paint changes every time she switches lanes

Some critic I was reading recently (Jayson Blair alert: The following is not this writer’s original thought!) observed that the fiddle had emerged as the leading sonic indicator of feisty, you-go-girl attitude and independence.

Interesting theory, though to me this kinda stuff all sorta sounds like Dexy’s Midnight Runners. Which ain’t a bad thing, by the way. Born in Victoria, B.C., and a longtime resident of Toronto, Nelly Furtado is obviously not a Dixie chick. But being north of the border sure hasn’t stopped her—or her wildly inventive co-production wrecking crew, Track and Field—from incorporating staccato fiddle swoops with the same level of intuitive understanding and what-the-f@!k- let’s-see-if-it-works abandon with which they also embrace turntable scratches, banjos, congas, tablas, beat boxes, fado, samba, trip hop, rock, and pop. You get the drift.

Her biggest, most straight-ahead hit may have been the Grammy-winning “I’m Like a Bird,” but as pint-sised Portuguese powerhouse Furtado declares in Folklore’s jangling opener, “I’m not a one-trick pony” —and pity the fool who tries to categorise her. No doubt, many artists spin the globe in the hopes of branching out and hopefully even finding their own voice. And, to be sure, Nelly changes her steez the way some of us switch up our hair colour. Yet her palpable coolness comes from how her own voice appears at home anywhere she chooses to kick it.

Past collabo partners have included Missy, Timbaland, and the Roots. This time she ups the ante by inviting the Kronos Quartet, Bela Fleck, and Caetano Veloso to get their freak on. Folklore may be more focused than Whoa Nelly’s candy-coated culture clash, but mature doesn’t translate to dull: The sublime and swirling rocker “Picture Perfect” proves Nelly can wail with the best; in the two-stepping/beat-boxing single, “Powerless (Say What You Want),” she bites the hands that’ve fed her by admonishing, “Paint my face in your magazines/Make it look whiter than it seems”; “Explode” is a galloping, dramatic tale of teenage lust and danger. Armed with a Fendi bag and a fiddle, Nelly has figured out a way to find one’s bliss and shake one’s ass. Her grown-up pop still believes in girl power.

By Amy Linden

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Nelly Furtado has come a long way from her I’m Like A Bird days.

A few short years ago, she was a fresh-faced Grammy nominated, Juno award winning superstar, appearing on “Saturday Night Live” and landing in glossy magazines on the power of her debut CD, “Whoa Nelly!”

Now she’s a 25-year-old mum of a new baby whose ready to take her sound to the next level, a fact she’s proven with her new CD “Folklore”

“It’s been a really incredible year for me and I think “Folklore” really reflects on all these new things, it’s like an evolution” ahe muses.

Now that her new album has hit shops, the singer is gearing up to hit the road and tour coast to coast next spring. And when she opens her mouth to belt out one of the new tracks for audiences, her heart and soul will be behind the sound.

“When I finished the album, I sat down with my headphones and I listened to it start to finish” she remembers. “And I got this really cool feeling, this emotional feeling, where I felt very moved and also excited about music again”.

ONE-TRICK PONY: I’m inspired by words and phrases. The night I wrote this, my head had just hit the pillow, but then I got up and wrote all the lyrics for this song. I’m just saying I’m not a one-trick pony, and that I don’t want to be pigeonholed. The music is splendid. The banjo makes an appearance, and it’s mixed with this hip-hoppy groove. There’s a funkiness to its rhythm that makes it feel very modern. This song reminds me of the America hit “A Horse With No Name.” It’s abstract in that way, where I’m more painting broad strokes than being exact with the words. The Kronos Quartet plays on this – a whole string arrangement that’s so insane. We sent the song to them, then they sent it back to us with the arrangement, and we were blown away.

POWERLESS (SAY WHAT YOU WANT): I get to see a lot of DJ-oriented performance stuff, and I’m into the heaviness of breakbeats, how raw and powerful they are. Everything lately has become so synthesised, but just the standard sound of breakbeats is inspiring. “Powerless” uses breakbeats like that; it’s a real groove, a real vibe. It just carries you away. There’s a banjo mixed with a breakbeat from Malcolm McLaren’s “Buffalo Gals.” So right away you’re bobbing your head. The lyrics are initially in-your-face, like, “Okay, I know I’m going to be stereotyped in my life because that is the world we live in; that’s society.” But the song tries to find some sense of order in this complicated world.

EXPLODE: This song came from a poem I wrote called “Teenage Waste.” When you’re a teenager, you want to try everything; you’re like a little firework. Your wiser self is there, somewhere deep down, depending on how young or old your soul is. But it doesn’t always show itself. “Explode” is visceral; it’s guttural. That’s why part of the song uses terms from Capoeira, the Brazilian martial arts form. It touches on teenage experimentation and bliss and fun, but also on some violence and aggression.

TRY: This is about the reality of love. My energy used to just go everywhere, but now I’m more grounded because I’ve found true love. The idea here is that, yeah, sometimes life sucks. But life is only so long, and somebody can come along who makes you want to be a better person. You just have to roll with the punches. So “Try” is not a happy-go-lucky song. It has a strange arrangement because the chorus happens only twice, and the end is improvisational. It’s like one of those epic power ballads.

FRESH OFF THE BOAT: I love the idea of taking back phrases. “Fresh off the boat” is a slang expression describing an immigrant. It gets thrown around a lot and not usually as a compliment. But I wanted to take the negative out of that and turn it into something positive. There’s so much beauty in the humility and modesty that derive from being an immigrant family, coming to the New World for the first time. And it never ends because you go back to the Old World at some point and then return to your adopted country. You take something and bring it back, and it becomes a big jumble. I relate to that idea very strongly. It’s what this song and the whole album are about.

FORÇA: When I was touring in Portugal, people would frequently say goodbye to me by saying “Força,” which is Portuguese slang. It translates as “Keep going,” or “Kick ass.” It’s also associated with sports, especially football (soccer). I put a feminine twist on the idea of how you feel when you’re watching your favourite team. When you tie that into nationality, it becomes pretty intense. So this is a happy song, a burst of energy. Plus, we have (banjoist) Béla Fleck playing on the song. His contribution here is amazing.

THE GRASS IS GREEN: This plays around with the idea of wanting what you can’t have, or wanting what’s on the other side, something you dream of. And then you finally touch it, but, oh, no! It’s too late; it’s changed. There are also themes of deception and mistrust, but I prefer to express that kind of world-weariness with a light touch. The music has an understated hip-hop thing going on; the groove just chugs along, with simple instrumentation.

PICTURE PERFECT: When you look through old photo albums, the pictures can feel so fresh and new. There seems to be so much hope in there. The experience can call up another time, something magical and mystical. This song is about the idea of idealism. It reflects the immigrant theme that runs throughout the album. The imagery is very vivid, like a poem. The instrumentation is chilled-out and organic. There’s a lot of mellow, bluesy, Jimi Hendrix-type guitar, like in “Waterfalls” or “Little Wing.” There’s a subtle psychedelic vibe to it, and the way it builds is really beautiful.

SATURDAYS: This originated from a poem I wrote called “Saturdays.” It’s really folky, mostly just voice and guitar. It’s a little Johnny Cash-esque, but the 24-year-old girl version. The song is about how I used to spend my Saturdays cleaning the rooms at the Robin Hood Motel in Victoria, British Columbia, where I grew up. On the third floor, there was a tar-like flat roof, and when I had a break, I’d grab a Diet Coke and sit there and wait for my mother, who ran the housekeeping services. I’d look over the site, dreaming about my future as a musician. I wrapped up a lot of hours dreaming there.

ISLAND OF WONDER: At one point I’d just come off the road and wasn’t feeling very inspired. I was talking to my mom on the phone. She said, “What do you mean you’re not inspired?” I said, “I guess I just don’t know what to write about anymore.” That summer my family and I had taken one of our trips to The Azores (the island chain off the coast of Portugal where Furtado’s parents were born). She said, “Why don’t you write a song called ‘Island Of Wonder?’” Right then it hit me – it was the most absurd idea, but I knew that song would be on my album. Our DJ, Lil‘ Jaz, had started producing stuff, and I collaborated with him on this. He worked up this sample from Caetano Veloso, from the song “Tonada De Luna Llena,” from his album Fina Estampa. He is my musical idol. And then Caetano ended up singing a new vocal for the song! It’s pretty cool that his sample is on it and he’s singing as well. I still can’t believe it.

CHILDHOOD DREAMS: This song is about the renewing quality of true love. It was recorded in a church adjacent to The Pilgrim School, in Los Angeles, which has this massive organ that extends throughout the church, with thousands of pipes and tubes and valves. We went in with a bass player, a guitar player, a vibraphone player and a harp player. You cannot match the reverb you get, this natural, hollow reverb. We took it all the way; we did the full-on spiritualised organ intro. There’s a really cool vocal round at the end, playing on the theme of childhood dreams. It’s in 6/8 time, very lilting. Also toward the end, we added tabla, which takes the song to a more universal place. It’s a super-ballad. Organ bells, church bells, wedding bells, chimes, tablas – the whole thing is magical.

“Here is something really rather special; Nelly exploring the capabilities of her voice and trying out a remarkably eclectic range of styles.”

Folklore sees Nelly Furtado well and truly re-discovering her roots. There isn’t a frothy pop song to be found on this album, which isn’t to say there aren’t any hooks. Here is something really rather special; Nelly exploring the capabilities of her voice and trying out a remarkably eclectic range of styles.

Undeniably influenced by her Portuguese roots and a range of folk and world music, the diversity of instruments and vocal styles on this album is breathtaking. Enlisting Brazillian legend Caetano Veloso on guest vocals and the mighty Kronos Quartet on strings has injected this album with an eclectic feel altogether different to her debut Whoa Nelly.

This mixture kept me riveted from start to finish. The single, “Powerless”, is joyfull and defiant; the upbeat, insistent African percussion and Bela Fleck’s banjo produce a quite wonderful song.

“Forca” opens with an irresistable tabla and talking-drum riff and builds to a chorus which would be comfortably at home on an Orchestra Baobab album. Whereas “Saturdays”, inspired by Nelly’s experience of cleaning hotel rooms with her mother, is a simple but forceful acoustic guitar/vocal track which sounds as if it were recorded in her bathroom. Nelly gets the giggles half way through, which does nothing to dimiinish the power of her vocal delivery and only adds to the one-take feel of the song. I’m breathless with admiration!

“Picture perfect” is different again. A lazy, 6/8 rhythm and delicious bluesy electric guitar riffs build to a memorable, anthemic chorus which will have you holding your lighter in the air and swaying. ‘I want to show you all I have to offer’ she sings. She achieves her aim and then some!

It is Nelly’s vocals which really show how much she has grown as an artist. The deeper, warmer soul feel of her voice on “Forca” and “Picture Perfect” is a welcome departure from that trademark, grassy, R’n'B sound.

No question, Nelly has taken things to another level. Whoa Nelly went platinum on the basis of some wonderfully catchy tunes and a fresh new sound. Folklore has twice the originality and has real staying power. ‘Nobody can ignore me’ sings Nelly. And I’m not arguing with her. Buy!

Reviewer: Suzanne Hutson, BBC

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