Nelly Furtado, Gym Class Heroes arrive for Manila concert

Nelly Furtado

Stormy weather greeted the arrival of Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado and rap-rock group Gym Class Heroes on Wednesday afternoon, August15, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Furtado and Gym Class Heroes are performing in a back-to-back concert Thursday, August 16, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Her debut album in 2000, “Whoa, Nelly!,” and its single “I’m Like a Bird,” won for Furtado the 2002 Grammy Award for best female pop vocal performance. Her second studio album in 2003, “Folklore,” was less commercially successful in the United States but produced three international singles: “Powerless (Say What You Want),” “Try” and “Força” (the theme of the 2004 European Football Championship).

Her third studio album in 2006, “Loose,” was her biggest success worldwide. It produced the No. 1 hits “Promiscuous,” “Maneater,” “Say It Right” and “All Good Things (Come to an End).”

After a three-year break, she released her first full-length Spanish album, “Mi Plan,” in 2009. Furtado’s fourth English-language studio album, “The Spirit Indestructible,” is set for release on Sept. 11, 2012.

Gym Class Heroes is an American rap-rock band formed in 1997 when rapper Travie McCoy met drummer Matt McGinley during their high school gym class.

It wasn’t until 2003 when guitarist Disashi Lumumba-Kasongo and bassist Eric Roberts joined the group, which led to its being signed to Fueled by Ramen and Decaydance Records (Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz’s independent record label), on which the band released its debut album, “The Papercut Chronicles.”

Its music is an amalgam of hip hop, rock, funk and reggae.

In 2006, the group released the gold-selling album “As Cruel as School Children,” with the single “Cupid’s Chokehold” reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and “Clothes Off!!”

Gym Class Heroes

peaking at No. 5 in the United Kingdom.

In 2008, the band released its third album, “The Quilt,” which featured collaborations with Estelle, Busta Rhymes, Patrick Stump, Daryl Hall, The-Dream (stage name of Terius Youngdell Nash, co-writer of Justin Bieber’s “Baby,” Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and Beyonce’s “Single Ladies”), and hip hop producer Andre “Dre” Christopher Lyon.

The band went on hiatus in 2009, which allowed its members to pursue various side projects. In 2010 McCoy released his solo debut album “Lazarus,” which yielded the hit single “Billionaire,” co-written and performed with Bruno Mars.

Lumumba-Kasongo has been working on his side-project Soul, while McGinley played drums with the rock group Kill the Frontman.

Gym Class Heroes released its latest album, “The Papercut Chronicles II,” in November last year.