When Nelly Furtado gyrated onto the music scene a decade ago, she moved us with her sound that included folk, bossa nova and other Latin influences. She boasts that her early influences were Mariah Carey and Salt-N-Pepa, which explains why she has flavor. The Canadian-born hottie of Portuguese descent has earned her stripes and recently released The Best of Nelly Furtado CD, which is a compilation of her No. 1 singles and three unreleased recordings. –yvette caslin
