She’s been dubbed Artist To Watch by Variety and Amazon Music. With over 1 billion streams, internationally acclaimed Moroccan-Canadian singer-songwriter Faouzia has been making her mark all around the world, thanks to her spellbinding voice and larger-than-life talent. Known for being trilingual (Arabic, French, English) and a multi-instrumentalist, the 22-year-old released her first song at the age of 15.
Despite being relatively new in the international music scene, Faouzia has enjoyed chart-topping success with the likes of her mega hit “RIP, Love” and her duet with John Legend on “Minefields”. She’s also worked with Kelly Clarkson, David Guetta, DJ duo Galantis and French rapper Ninho. Team Hype had the opportunity to chat with the talented songstress about her debut album, working with EGOT winner John Legend, what she struggles with as an artist and her favourite female celeb crushes.
Question: Fans here are excited to see you perform live. Have you been to Malaysia or any parts of Asia? If yes, what stood out to you? And if not, what are you most interested to explore?
Faouzia: The only part of Asia that I’ve ever seen is Dubai but I’ve never been to that part of Asia so I’m so, so excited and it’s all gonna be new to me. I’m excited for the new adventure. I’m excited to meet the people. I’m excited to try the food – and everything! I’m excited for everything.
Question: You previously mentioned that “CITIZENS” is part one of your debut album. Could you explain to us the meaning behind the name “CITIZENS” and what was the concept?
Faouzia: So, I actually started constructing my album before I constructed my project “CITIZENS”. And so I had the name for my album, I had everything ready for my album. But I realise I had so much music and I had a bigger story to tell so I decided to split it in to two parts. And I started with “CITIZENS” and- I can’t tell you exactly what the name of the album is but it is based off of the title “CITIZENS”.
Question: So which track from “CITIZENS” would you say is the most personal for you and why?
Faouzia: I would say “Don’t Tell Me I’m Pretty” is probably the most personal one for me because I wrote that one in a very intimate setting. I wrote it alone and I produced it alone. And it came straight from my heart, straight from my mind. A lot of the lyrics are a little more vague but they’re very personal to me and it’s one of my favourite songs on the project.
Question: So about your duet with John Legend on “Minefields”, you mentioned that the song came to you as a demo before you got involved. What are the major differences between the demo and the final product?
Faouzia: The production is fully different. I worked on the lyrics. A lot of the arrangement is different as well. I would say, it started off with me singing on the piano and now, it’s obviously a bigger production and John is singing the different parts. So it got transformed in a really beautiful way and it got a lot better. Because now, as a whole, I see this as the true song and whenever I listen to the demo, I just see it as like the “pre” version, like a version that came before. But yeah, I really really love how the song turned out.
Question: What was your favourite memory from collaborating with John on the song and on the music video?
Faouzia: My two favourite moments from the entire experience; the first one, was when I heard the song with his voice for the first time. I will never forget it, I remember just having shivers and chills all over my body hearing his voice on the song and hearing him harmonise on top of my voice. So that’s one of my favourite moments from the song. And another one is meeting him on set and talking about our lives.
I remember he was telling me how much he loves Morocco and Moroccan food and how much Chrissy (Teigen) loved Moroccan food as well. And so we really got to connect on that and I always look back on those moments fondly.
Question: Other than the piano, you also play the violin and the guitar. Will we get to see you play any of those instruments while you perform?
Faouzia: There’s a very high chance that I would be playing the piano. I love to have an intimate part of my set where I go to the piano and I sing a few songs alone so I might do that when I perform in Malaysia.
Question: What was the biggest lesson you’ve learned since your debut single in the music industry?
Faouzia: That’s a good question, oh my goodness. I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned is patience. I think it’s also the hardest lesson for me. Things always take more time than you want them to, especially when there’s a bigger group, a bigger team involved. When I write something, I want to release it to the world right away but I always have to be patient and I always have to wait for the right time to make sure it’s presented to the world in the best way. I think that was the biggest lesson that I’m still trying to learn till this day. I’m still not very patient so I’m trying. *laughs*
Question: What’s biggest misconception about you as a celebrity?
Faouzia: I don’t really see myself as a celebrity. *laughs* But I think a lot of times, people don’t- *pause* I’m trying to think. A lot of the things that I’ve heard, number one – this isn’t really a way that people perceive me, like on an emotional level – but people always think I’m taller than I am. They’re always so shocked when they realise that I’m really short. *laughs* Um, so that’s kinda a misconception.
Another thing is people always are taken aback by my personality. They always think, because my music is so serious and so dark, that I’m gonna be walking in something dark, gloomy and serious but then I’m like *bubbly* “Hi, hello, how are you?” and they’re like “What is going on?”, “Who is this person”? So I think that’s another misconception. *laugh*
Question: Which big celeb do you hope to meet in person one day?
Faouzia: I don’t think I’ve ever gotten starstruck yet but I also haven’t met Beyonce or Rihanna or Lady Gaga. I think if I meet one of those three, then I’ll definitely be starstruck. *laughs*
We’re definitely stoke and can’t wait to watch Faouzia live in person. More details on her concert in Kuala Lumpur here.
