Whoa, Nelly! is the debut studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado, released in North America on October 24, 2000 by DreamWorks Records. Recording sessions for the album took place from 1999 to 2000. It peaked at number twenty-four on the US Billboard 200 chart, and received critical acclaim. It produced four singles: "I'm Like a Bird", "Turn Off the Light", "Shit on the Radio (Remember the Days)", and "Hey, Man!". The album spent seventy-eight weeks on the Billboard 200, and hit double-platinum status in the US in January 2002.
After the release of the album, Furtado headlined the Burn in the Spotlight Tour and appeared on Moby's Area:One tour. According to Maclean's magazine, Whoa, Nelly! has sold 5-6 million copies Worldwide as of 2006. The album also caught the eye of record producer Timbaland, who later signed Furtado to his record label.
Background
After graduating from Mount Douglas Secondary School in 1996, Furtado moved from Victoria, British Columbia to Toronto to pursue music, working full-time at an alarm company. There, she met Tallis Newkirk of the hip hop group Plains of Fascination and contributed vocals to their 1996 album Join the Ranks before forming the trip-hop duo Nelstar with him. However, she left the group, feeling its style did not represent her voice or personality. In 1997, her performance at the Honey Jam talent show caught the attention of Gerald Eaton of The Philosopher Kings, who, along with Brian West, helped her produce a demo. This material led to her signing with DreamWorks Records in 1999, and her first single, "Party's Just Begun (Again)", appeared that year on the Brokedown Palace soundtrack.
Composition
Whoa, Nelly combines elements of a large number of genres. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic states that "much of the record sounds like folk-pop tinged with bossa nova" and describes the songs as "blends of pop, folk, dance, and Latin". Billboard notes that "Nelly Furtado sees no reason for separating rock guitars from pop melodies from R&B/hip hop beats from effervescent bossa nova".
Critical reception
Whoa, Nelly! was well received by critics for its eccentric, yet intriguing instrumentations as well as Furtado's vocals. It currently holds a score of 79 from Metacritic. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave a positive review while commenting that "Furtado is a restless vocalist, skitting and scatting with abandon, spitting out rapid repetitions, bending notes, and frequently indulging in melismas."
As a result of critical acclaim, the album received four nominations at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony in on 27 February 2002. The album itself received a nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album, while Furtado herself was nominated for Best New Artist as well as Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "I'm Like a Bird", in which she won the latter.
Commercial performance
In Furtado's home country of Canada, the album peaked at number two and is currently certified 4× platinum. It officially made its debut on the Billboard 200 at number 190 on the week of January 13, 2001. Due to the help of radio airplay, by the end of 2000 the album was now selling up to 12,000 copies per week; by the end of 2001 it was selling up to 55,000 copies per week. It eventually reached its peak at number 24 on the chart and is currently certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
| total_length = 77:17
| title14 = Party
| note14 = Choroni Mix
| length14 = 4:30
| title15 = I'm Like a Bird
| note15 = Gavo's Martini Bar Mix
| length15 = 6:56
Samples
- "Hey, Man!" contains a sample from "White Man Sleeps (Second Movement)" by Kronos Quartet.
- "My Love Grows Deeper" (Part 1) contains a sample from "Stride With Ease" by Jeff Tyzik and a sample from "Eli Eli" by Johnny Mathis.
Personnel
Credits are adapted from AllMusic.
- Nelly Furtado – lead and background vocals, acoustic guitar, songwriting
- Field – bass guitar, acoustic guitar
- Track – tambourine, background vocals, quica, shakers
- Rabbi – keyboards, piano, synthesizer
- Curt Bisquera – drums
- Lil' Jaz – turntables
- Johnny "The American" – electric guitar
- Bob Ludwig – mastering
- Rick Waychesko – trumpet, fluglehorn
- Mike Elizondo – bass guitar, double bass
- Victor Rebelo – percussion, berimbau, shaker
- Camara Kambon – piano
- Martin Tillmann – cello
- James McCollum – guitar
- Russ Miller – drums
- Allan Molnar – vibraphone
- Brad Haehnel – shaker
- Roberto Occhipinti – bass guitar
- Luis Orbegoso – congas, toms
- Joe "Public" Allen – trumpet
- Nuno Cristo – guitar
- Alex Rebelo – rhythm guitar
- Daniel Stone – udu, shaker, triangle
- Martin Tillmann – cello
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Weekly chart performance for Whoa, Nelly!
!scope="col"| Chart (2000–2002)
!scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
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! scope="row"| European Top 100 Albums (Music & Media)
| 8
|-
!scope="row"|Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)
| 37
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|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)
|95
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Portuguese Albums (AFP)
| 4
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Year-end chart performance for Whoa, Nelly!
! scope="col"| Chart (2000)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"|Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
| 82
|}
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Year-end chart performance for Whoa, Nelly!
!scope="col"|Chart (2001)
!scope="col"|Position
|-
!scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)
|16
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
|9
|-
!scope="row"| Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)
|59
|-
!scope="row"| European Albums (Music & Media)
|33
|-
!scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
|46
|-
!scope="row"|Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)
|align="center"|78
|-
!scope="row"|Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)
|align="center"|26
|-
!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)
|align="center"|26
|-
!scope="row"| US Billboard 200
|51
|-
! scope="row"| Worldwide Albums (IFPI)
|style="text-align:center;"|20
|}
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Year-end chart performance for Whoa, Nelly!
!scope="col"|Chart (2002)
!scope="col"|Position
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
| 131
|-
!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)
|117
|}