Alessia Cara

Flannel shirts, denim, Converse, a guitar, messy hair? That's literally me.

The only thing I'm really, truly good at is music - I just love it.

I've never really aspired to the spotlight, I just wanted to do music, which is kind ...
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Body image is something that girls struggle with every day, and it's something that I struggle ...
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As long as each song makes somebody feel something, I think that's the point of it ...
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As long as each song makes somebody feel something, I think that's the point of it all. I don't want it to just be background music, you know?

Body image is something that girls struggle with every day, and it's something that I struggle with every day.

Every time I sing, it it's a reminder to myself that I have to be confident.

Flannel shirts, denim, Converse, a guitar, messy hair? That's literally me.

I don't know how to talk to people I don't know.

I don't really dance. I don't drink or smoke. Being at parties is very awkward.

I don't want to be cliched, but Buckingham Palace is beautiful, and the old red telephone booths are really interesting to me. I've always wanted to see those.

I feel like my whole life, I've had to prove myself to so many people because I'm young and because I'm a female, it's just constant. I'm always surprising people.

I guess people don't think that young girls or young artists have opinions, but I'm so glad that there's artists like Lorde and Raury and Kehlani because they're showing other people that young people can have an opinion and a voice and do really well with it. I'm glad I can be one of those people.

I first picked up a guitar when I was ten years old, my parents surprised me with it for my tenth birthday. I started taking lessons when I was thirteen, but only for a few months, and then I just kept teaching myself.

I wanted to get through high school anonymously.

I think that my music is really empowering. I just want people to know - especially young people, but really everyone - that you don't have to be so caught up in what everyone else is thinking. You don't have to be the coolest, most popular person. You can just be you and be vulnerable.

I was a troublemaking kid.

I was a very strange child.

I was always so scared to sing in front of people. That was kind of my weird thing.

I'm not extremely outgoing, but I'm average, I think. When people meet me they'll say, 'Oh you're not that shy...' I never said I was! I see where they're coming from because my biggest single was about being shy at a party - I get it. But it's not 100% accurate.

I've never really aspired to the spotlight, I just wanted to do music, which is kind of weird because music comes with that spotlight.

In second grade, I told a bunch of kids there was a homeless person living between the portable classrooms outside our school. It caused panic, and the principal had to announce on the P.A. system that no one was living there. I pretended I didn't know who started the rumor.

'Looking For Alaska' by John Green is a very great book. I feel like every teenage girl says John Green's 'Fault In Our Stars,' but 'Looking For Alaska' is better.

Music was something I found on my own. I got my first guitar when I was around 10, and it just all developed over time.

Ninety per cent of my family are hairdressers, and the other 10% are construction workers.

Other than the 'Sesame Street' soundtrack, which I was obsessed with, the first artist I really felt I'd discovered on my own was Amy Winehouse. She was the first female artist I wanted to write like and sing like and be like.

My house was very strange. I didn't do things other kids did because my parents were very strict - I stayed at home, quiet in my room.

Singing was something I always did. I really don't remember a time when I wasn't singing, even as a little child.

The only thing I'm really, truly good at is music - I just love it.

You can do anything and be a star. You can dress like however you want, and you can do whatever you want. If you wanna wear meat suits like Lady Gaga, good. She's freaking amazing! She's doing that, and she's unbelievable. I can wear T-shirts and still be great, too. So that's just what I'm proving to people.