Personnel includes: Nelly Furtado (vocals); Field (guitar); Camara Kambon (piano); Mike Elizondo (bass); Russ Miller (drums); Luis Orbegoso (congas, toms) Victor Rebelo (percussion); Daniel Stone (triangle).

"I'm Like A Bird" won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Personnel: Nelly Furtado (vocals, acoustic guitar, programming, background vocals); Field (guitar, acoustic guitar, programming, scratches); James McCollum (guitar); Rick Waychesko (trumpet, flugelhorn); Camara Kambon (piano); Allan Molnar (vibraphone); Mike Elizondo (upright bass); Curt Bisquera, Russ Miller (drums); Daniel Stone (shaker, triangle, wood block); The Track (tambourine, programming, background vocals); Brad Haehnel (tambourine).

Audio Mixer: Brad Haehnel.

Recording information: Gymnasium, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Nelly Furtado's Whoa, Nelly! is one of those albums that's designed to be a surprising, precocious debut -- the kind of record that's meant to make a listener exclaim, well, "whoa nelly" upon the first spin. From that first play, it's evident that Furtado is indeed an audacious songwriter, not at all hesitant to bare her emotions, tackle winding melodies, and bend boundaries to the point that much of the record sounds like folk-pop tinged with bossa nova and backed by a production designed for TLC. Clearly, this is a musician with big, serious ambitions, a notion that is supported not only by her naked lyrics but especially by her singing. Furtado is a restless vocalist, skitting and scatting with abandon, spitting out rapid repetitions, bending notes, and frequently indulging in melismas. This, more than anything, makes her a bit of an acquired taste, since her relentless vocalizing can obscure hooks that are nevertheless there. Once you appreciate (or grow to understand) her quirks, Whoa, Nelly! unfolds as a rewarding, promising debut, albeit one with its flaws. True, most of those flaws arise from its na‹vet‚: a tendency to push too hard, whether it's in piecing together genres in an attempt to create something original or lyrics that can sound a little sophomoric in their soul-searching. These don't arrive in isolated instances, either -- they're wound into the songs themselves. You either choose to be annoyed by these quirks or become charmed by them, realizing it's a first album, and savoring the talent that's apparent on much of the album. Many of her blends of pop, folk, dance, and Latin are beguiling; she has a knack for strong pop hooks (particularly on "On the Radio," "Well, Well," and "Turn Off the Light"); her lyrical imagery can be evocative; she has a sly sense of humor; and, when she doesn't get carried away, she's an inventive, endearingly eccentric vocalist. These are the things that endure after that first slightly bewildering spin of Whoa, Nelly! and those are the things that make you wonder where she goes from here. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

On WHOA NELLY, young songstress Nelly Furtado defies expectations by mixing and matching styles and approaches. The overriding production aesthetic includes R&B/hip-hop loops, beats, and samples mated with pure pop touches and some quirky electronic swoops and lurches. Furtado's songs combine hip-hop attitude with occasional Latin rhythmic accents, but the most striking aspect of this recording is the lyrics.

While it wouldn't be difficult to imagine these arrangements being completely effective framing generic pop sentiments, Furtado places no constrictions on her lyrical muse, using unusual imagery, odd syntax, and inventive scenarios that immediately set her apart from the Top 40 crowd. References to a "Mobius strip," "proper grammar," and the "North American dream" are the rule rather than the exception in Furtado's pleasingly left-field style. Her vocals and the production are so seamless that if you're not paying attention, the unusual lyrics might slip right by. If that happens, Furtado will have made some real headway in subverting the pop mainstream.

Rolling Stone (1/4/01, p.108) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Top 50 Albums of 2000".

Rolling Stone (10/12/00, p.92) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...A wild-ass pop go-go, filled with songs that pursue adventure yet could still make the hit parade."

Entertainment Weekly (12/29/00, p.140) - Ranked #10 in EW's Top 10 Albums of 2000.

Entertainment Weekly (10/20/00, pp.75-6) - "...Carries you away on a sonic jetstream....one of the year's most consistently pleasureable delights..." - Rating: A

Q (4/01, p.100) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...[Her] self-sufficient, Beck-inspired hip hop folk makes for a refreshing change....[her] songs are playful, unaffected and full of little surprises..."