Interview : Nelly Furtado - Sweet as honey by Emily Mills

From humble beginnings in Victoria, British Columbia, 22 year-old Nelly Furtado has become the industry’s latest musical sweetheart. Her DreamWorks debut, entitled Whoa, Nelly!, has been showered with critical acclaim from Rolling Stone to SPIN, for its eclectic amalgam of bossa nova, hip-hop, pop and everything in between.

The first single, "I'm Like A Bird," helped propel the album into double platinum sales virtually overnight, and launched the Canadian diva's clean-sweep at the 2001 Juno Awards.

Between guest appearances on Saturday Night Live and top-rated American talk shows, the Portuguese descendant has also dazzled international audiences while simultaneously expanding her fan base, including praise from living-legend, Sir Elton John.

However, almost four years before the world's infatuation with Nelly Furtado, her extraordinary vocals and aptitude for songwriting were appreciated right here in Toronto at the annual Honey Jam showcase, which she mentions in the notes of her CD, saying "I'll always remember the Honey Jam".

In the summer of 1997, PhemPhat Productions added Furtado to the all-female revue, featuring the best in homegrown urban talent at Lee's Palace. Yet Nelly was no stranger to Honey Jam's hip-hop, R&B, and reggae styles, as she spent her younger years immersed in albums by LL Cool J, Mary J. Blige and TLC.

"Flashy urban music of the early nineties gave me a love for sampling, technology and hip-hop," she admits. "It taught me how to be a bold singer, and how to sing with attitude."

That same new found attitude resonated with Furtado when she began writing rhymes at 14, and two years later on a trip to the land of her cultural roots – Portugal.

"I went to this club and just got up onstage and started singing, making up lyrics off the top of my head. That’s what hip-hop's all about – freestyling. The fado tradition in Portugal has a similar thing called canceos desafios, which is basically spontaneous singing," she explains.

Moving to Toronto after high school, Nelly continued to expand her international musical inspirations, rocking to Radiohead and U2; appreciating the timeless songwriting of the Beatles and Bob Marley; and grooving to new sounds courtesy of Brazil and India. The diversity of her artistic foundation became apparent once Furtado revealed her proficiency on guitar, ukulele and trombone, and her mastery of songs in English, Portuguese and Hindi. Then at 17, she went on to form local trip-hop group, Nelstar.

Conscious of how these many elements shaped her hard-to-categorize debut, Furtado concludes, "I think [the album] speaks to counter-culture kids who have grown up listening to all different styles of music." Thoughtfully she expands, "All of these influences and all of the life experiences I've had that fuel my lyrical content come together to make me, as an artist, urban folk alternative, if that helps any."

Whatever the label, Nelly's uniqueness and stage confidence on that fateful evening back in Toronto caught the eye of Philosopher Kings' manager, Chris Smith. Smith had attended the event with the Kings' Gerald Eaton and proudly recalls, "My first impression? She was the only white female at the Honey Jam, a showcase of black women performers. She stood out... she was definitely on her own path."

Surprisingly, despite the interest from Smith and Eaton, Furtado was reluctant to follow that inevitable path to stardom, as she had already planned to study creative writing at college and journey to Europe.

"Gerald came up and asked if I wanted to write songs," Nelly recollects. "And I said, 'Sure,' but I wasn't really that into it or whatever. I was but I wasn't, 'cause I didn't want to hear about management or anything like that at that point."

But destiny surely had a plan for the anxious songstress, as Nelly finally relented to recording sessions with Eaton and fellow bandmate, Brian West, about a year later. Furtado's stunning demo prompted an impressive deal with Steven Spielberg's U.S. label, DreamWorks Records, Eaton and West were credited as co-producers on the album, and Chris Smith added another stellar performer to his roster.

By 1999, Nelly Furtado had the record industry abuzz in anticipation of her first project, but it was her consistently captivating performances that convinced critics she was a force to be reckoned with - on and off stage.

Referring to an opening gig for R&B's Jacksoul, she shares, "The cool thing is that a lot of the people who have been generating or creating the hype are people who have already heard the record or seen my show."

Furtado's success then became more imminent domestically and south of the border, after joining the line-up for Sarah McLaughlin’s girl power celebration, Lilith Fair. Describing the experience, she remarks incredulously, "I did four [dates], and for the encore, everyone who performed that day would get onstage and sing [Bob Dylan's] 'I Shall Be Released.' I was singing with Chrissie Hynde and Sarah McLaughlan and Beth Orton. It was like a dream. I just kept thinking, 'What am I doing here with all these seasoned pros?'"

Maybe Nelly Furtado doesn't even realize it yet, but she was doing the very same thing she's done since that 1997 Honey Jam debut – just singing her heart out. Fortunately this time around, Canada's newest singing sensation has the entire world listening and she’ll continue to transcend that "S--- on the Radio" with her first album, Whoa, Nelly!

Whether it's her refreshingly poetic lyrics, her expression-filled voice or the inimitable way she meshes musical genres, Nelly Furtado's future looks very bright. In fact, it looks sweet as honey.