Up-and-coming pop sensation Nelly Furtado gave us this short but sweet playlist during soundcheck for her performance on Saturday Night Live. With her forthcoming European tour, a single that is scaling American charts, and six Juno Award nominations (the Canadian Grammys) she’s a busy girl. Want to delve even deeper into the musical influences of this fledgling phenom? Read between the lines with the exclusive interview we added to Nelly’s list!Genre: Various
Theme: Journeys
Mood: Nostalgic
Length: 7 tracks
1. Ironic by Alanis Morissette
Uplister: Do you get many comparisons to Alanis Morissette because you are young and Canadian?
Nelly: It’s kind of a big shoe to fit into [being compared to] Alanis Morissette. Plus the whole musical element is different. But maybe because my record is a pop record people would think ‘Wow, another pop diva! All right!’ I can see the Alanis Morissette thing, since she was 21 when her record came out and I am 21, I got brown hair, she’s got brown hair, we both write songs… The music is different, obviously – maybe you could say I’m the Alanis Morissette for the next generation – for the hip-hop generation. I realise my music is more pop. I don’t fit into one subculture directly, but there is a movement in Toronto that I’m more a part of and I sort of represent the more international part of it.
2. B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad) by Outkast
Uplister: What influences you most in your songwriting?
Nelly: A big influence for me is that I really like the beat writers: Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Jim Carroll, even when I was younger. I’m inspired by that spontaneous kind of poetry. And I’m inspired by the city a lot. I think a lot hip-hop emcees are similar. I think that I’m really into stream-of-consciousness writing, and that’s what I do when I write trip hop, or hook up with Dj friends.
3. California Love (RMX) – (featuring Dr Dre/Roger Troutman) by 2Pac
Uplister: What was your first musical obsession?
Nelly: My first obsession was hip-hop and R&B and I was 12 years old. I discovered this one radio station and they’d play the countdown every night. They played everything from PM Dawn to Ice T to LL Cool J. And I remember listening to LL Cool J and Ice T over and over and over again.
4. Hit ‘Em Wit Da Hee – (featuring Lil’ Kim) by Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott
Uplister: When were you first exposed to hip-hop music? Is there a large hip-hop scene in Victoria?
Nelly: When I was in school, I hung out with kids from all over the world. For me, it was like “Wow, real American kids!” Kids who listened to hip hop – wow! One of them was in this rap group – Plains of Fascination. They were like Tribe Called Quest. Four elements; the positive hip-hop tip. That was the vibe back then. I love that culture…I think that’s where my spontaneous energy comes from.
5. Setting Sun by Chemical Brothers, The
Uplister: When you moved to Toronto, you said you were taken with the music scene there. What was it like?
Nelly: In Toronto, you can see any type of band on any given night – hip-hop, folk, Goth – all in the same street. There’s a real progressive technological aspect also because there’s a big dance culture here too.
6. Sunday Morning by No Doubt
Uplister: When writing lyrics, are you a story-teller or is it more personal?
Nelly: As for my lyrics, a lot is based on experience, but I’m not really good at being a confessional singer/songwriter because I’ve never seen myself that way. I remember being at Lilith Fair and kind of being around all the singer/songwriters and feeling so different from them.
7. Devils Haircut by Beck
Uplister: You have already gone gold in Canada, and you are getting a lot of airplay here in the U.S. What do you think of the prospect of becoming really huge at such a young age?
Nelly: I think the prospect of being famous has two sides: the cool thing is that when one CD taps into the collective subconscious – it becomes that world for the artist. You start referencing things from that CD in pop culture, etc. If the world could be a Nelly world through my CD, the ideas and the sounds and the positivity, then I’ll be really happy. On the other hand, I’m glad it’s only taken off in Canada so far. In America, I can walk around without getting recognized. In Canada, I can’t anymore. It’s a matter of getting used to it.
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