Nelly Furtado

Canada, 1996–now

Portuguese-Canadian singer from Victoria, British Columbia. Whoa, Nelly! (2000) put fado's ache into a record made of hip-hop drums, Brazilian guitar and trip-hop, and did not sound like anything else on the radio. Loose (2006), with Timbaland, remade her as a pop star and sold twelve million.

MusicRoots documents 7 artists who influenced Nelly Furtado and 1 artist Nelly Furtado influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Nelly Furtado?

• Ani DiFranco — The biggest one, in her own words: 'when I was a teenager, I wanted to be Ani DiFranco. I never wanted to be part of corporate music.' It explains why an album with a Timbaland hit on it still sounds like someone who started out refusing the industry.
• Björk — Cited among her influences, and audible in the yelps and swoops on Whoa, Nelly! — a pop singer treating her own voice as a percussion instrument.
• Madonna — Admired alongside DiFranco for the same reason — authentic individuality and rebellion rather than a sound.
• Talking Heads — Loose was made with the 1980s in the room. Furtado and Timbaland worked from Talking Heads, Blondie, Madonna, the Police and Eurythmics.
• Blondie — From the same list, and the closest match: a singer moving between pop, rap and reggae on one record without apologising for it.
• Eurythmics — The cold synthesizer under a warm vocal, which is the shape of 'Maneater'.
• Oasis — Her brother's records. The guitar and the singalong choruses under the trip-hop on Whoa, Nelly! come from Britpop rather than from R&B.

Which artists did Nelly Furtado influence?

• Dua Lipa — One of the two records she got at six and calls a significant part of her life. The half-sung, half-rhythmic phrasing on Future Nostalgia is closer to Furtado than to any of the disco it borrows from.