Nelly Furtado

Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado emerged seemingly from out of nowhere with her debut album WHOA NELLY in 2000, sporting a genre-defying sound and winsome tone. Her work incorporates pop hooks, hip-hop derived rhythms, R&B production touches, and some left-field sonic weirdness, combining a modern, urban-oriented approach with occasional exotic rhythmic accents reflecting her Portuguese roots. One of the most striking facets of Furtado's music is her unusual lyrics, which employ off-kilter imagery and a quirky sense of language. In 2006, Furtado changed her relatively wholesome image by releasing her third album, LOOSE, which cast her, lyrically and stylistically, as a sexy femme fatale.

• pop
• hip hop/rap