Faouzia

Faouzia Ouihya was born in Casablanca, Morocco and moved with her family at the age of one to Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba in Canada, before settling in the rural town of Carman, Manitoba.[4][5] She has two sisters: Samia (one of her managers) and Kenza (her photographer).[6] She was raised Muslim and often traveled to her native country. Faouzia said she feels "very connected to the country and the region [North Africa]. Even though I grew up in Canada, I grew up eating Moroccan food, [and] wearing Moroccan attire."[7] In an interview she revealed she felt excluded as a child, saying "maybe not just fitting in is the biggest thing I've had to overcome". Her first composition was inspired by this feeling of exclusion, in which she embraced people's differences.[5] Her passion for music began at the age of four when she watched her sister Samia playing the piano, wishing she could learn how to play it.[8] Faouzia began writing songs and poems when she was five years old and playing piano at the age of six. She later studied how to play guitar and violin.[9] She speaks fluent English, French, and Arabic.[5]

At the age of fifteen, she won Song of the Year, the Audience Award, and Grand Prix at the 2015 La Chicane Éléctrique.[10] She began posting her songs and other covers on YouTube which led to a contract with Paradigm Talent Agency.[11][5] Thanks to her early success, she released her debut single "Knock on My Door" on 1 November through various platforms.[12]

In 2016, she won second place in the Canada's Walk of Fame Emerging Artist Mentorship Program.[13] In 2017, she was the recipient of the Grand Prize at the Nashville Unsigned Only music competition.[5] The same year, she collaborated with fellow Manitoban artist Matt Epp on their single "The Sound", and won the International Songwriting Competition, the largest songwriting competition in the world.[14][15] The two are the first Canadians in competition's 16-year history to win the top prize, beating 16,000 other entries from 137 different countries.[15][16] She performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra at The Forks, Winnipeg celebrating the 150th anniversary of Canada.[11]

Faouzia is featured in the song "Battle" on David Guetta's studio album 7, announced on 24 August 2018.[17][18] In a French language interview with Le Matin, Guetta noted Faouzia's great voice, powerful vibrato, and unique style for why he chose her for his album.[19] Faouzia recalled she "was still in high school when I heard the news that there was a possibility of me working with him", and affirmed it was "one of my proudest career moments, so far."[7] At that time, she enrolled in the University of Manitoba, majoring in computer engineering.[20] She also featured in the song "Money" on French rapper Ninho's studio album Destin and the song got certified "Gold Single" on 9 July 2019.

In early 2020, she was invited by Kelly Clarkson to translate her song "I Dare You" to Moroccan Arabic, which was released on 16 April.[21] About a month later, the Swedish EDM duo Galantis invited her to feature in their song "I Fly" for the soundtrack of the movie SCOOB!.[22]

Faouzia released her first extended play (EP), Stripped, on 6 August 2020. It features 6 stripped (acoustic version) songs, 5 of which being previously released, and one of which, "100 Bandaids", being a new track. To promote the EP, Faouzia performed the tracks live in a concert at the Burton Cummings Theatre on 20 August.[23]

On 5 November 2020, she released the single "Minefields" alongside American singer-songwriter John Legend. In July 2021, Faouzia revealed that she has been working on her debut studio album for a few years.[24] She released the singles "Don't Tell Me I'm Pretty", "Hero" and "Puppet".

She described her music as "emotional" and "intense".[25] Her early songwriting was heavily inspired by people she was close to. However, her later songs were more personal since she "really wanted my heart in my story."[20] Faouzia possesses a potential coloratura mezzo-soprano vocal range that spans from E♭₃ to G♯₅ in mixed voice and A₆ in whistle tones.[26] Faouzia sings mostly in English language, featuring Arabic tonalities in her vocals.[7]

Faouzia cites her parents and sisters as her biggest influence in pursuing a music career.[5] She grew up listening to pop musicians Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Rosalía,[27] Beyoncé, Sia, Adele,[28] Kelly Clarkson,[25] and John Legend.[29] About Rihanna, she said "has always been an inspiration of mine growing up and still to this day."[27] Faouzia added that she, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Sia are her mayor influences as a songwriter.[28] She told that "Say Something" by A Great Big World and "Hello" by Adele are some of her favourite songs.[5] At a young age she listened alongside her parents to Arab music acts such as Umm Kulthum and Fairuz.[20] Faouzia declared they "are two of my all-time favourite artists."[7] She also listened to Assala Nasri and Khaled.[30] When she was learning music she listened to composers Chopin, Bach, and Mozart.[20] Pop rock bands Fall Out Boy and Imagine Dragons have also served as influences for her,[20] and she attended one of the latter's concerts.[8]

Notes