On Air Now
Capital XTRA In The Morning With Jez Welham 6am - 10am
Alessia Cara Facts: 17 Things You Need To Know About The Grammy's 'Best New Artist'
Since releasing her debut single 'Here,' Canadian singer-songwriter Alessia Cara has began to blow up worldwide, with artists including Drake and Taylor Swift as fans. Here's everything you need to know about Alessia before the release of her debut album 'Know It All.'
-
1. Where is Alessia Cara from? Brampton, Ontario, Canada.
Alessia grew up on the outskirts of Toronto, the same city musical talents like Drake and The Weeknd hail from.
-
2. Alessia is only 21-years-old.
Her birthday is on July 11th, 1996. She flew to New York and signed a management deal when she was just 16-years-old.
-
3. Her real name is Alessia Caracciolo.
She is Canadian born with Italian parents.
-
4. Alessia grew her fanbase by posting covers of songs on Youtube
She began her YouTube channel when she was just 13-years-old. On it she covers songs by Chris Brow, Amy Winehouse, Beyonce and many more.
-
5. Alessia has a tattoo of a paper sail-boat on her wrist.
"They seem so frail, but when you put them on water they float. It's a reminder that even though I'm small and seem weak, I'm not,” she told Billboard.
-
6. Alessia Cara is incredible at celebrity impersonations.
Watch what happened when we asked her to impersonate Adele.
-
7. Alessia has only ever attended one concert in her life – a Justin Bieber concert!
And she only went to the Bieber concert because her friend had a spare ticket! Picture: Getty
-
8. ‘Here’ is built around an Isaac Hayes sample.
Her debut song "Here" samples Isaac Hayes's "Ike's Rap II".
-
9. Her hit single ‘Here’ is based on a true story.
Alessia wrote the song the day after attending a party when she was 16-years-old. In it she sings about a party she’s at, but wishes she wasn’t. “It’s a party song, but really it’s the complete opposite of a party song. It’s absolutely me; it shouts out the person in the corner of the party, looking around uncomfortably. I feel like this song narrates what the wallflower is thinking.” Picture: Getty
-
10. Drake follows Alessia Cara on Twitter.
"I'm going to take that as him wanting to do an album together,” she joked to Billboard. PIcture: Instagram
-
-
11. She covered Drizzy's 'Hold On We're Going Home' and it was amazing.
Hit the link to watch the full thing.
-
12. Her debut album ‘Know It All’ is will be released in the UK on 11th March.
On the album’s name, Alessia said; "I decided to call the album “Know-It-All” because each song is so opinionated and touches upon a strong feeling. While listening to the album, the listener might be under the impression that I have things figured out and that I know it all, but the reality is that I have no idea. It’s a sarcastic title taken from the song “17” on my album. The line says: ‘I’m a know-it-all, i don’t know enough Picture: Getty
-
13. Alessia didn’t always want to be a singer.
"When I was really young I was convinced I wanted to be a visual artist. I would paint and draw and make crafts,” she told the BBC.
-
14. 90% of Alessia’s family are hairdressers.
Alessia did not inherit her musical talent. 90% of her family work as hairdressers and the other 10%, she says, work in construction. Picture: Getty
-
15. Alessia’s first ever YouTube cover was of Jessie J’s ‘Price Tag’.
Picture: Instagram
-
-
16. Alessia keeps a note of all the good things that happen to her.
She once told Vevo that she "writes down all the good things that happen to her and puts them in a jar. At the end of the year, she reads them to reflect on all of the good things that happened.” What a great idea! Picture: Getty
-
17. Alessia sites Drake, Ed Sheeran and Amy Winehouse as her musical inspirations.
"I'm obsessed with Ed Sheeran and Drake" she told Capital XTRA in an exclusive interview. Picture: Getty
