The Canadian rising star storms the charts with her hit 'Here' from her upcoming debut album 'Know-It-All' that she plans to release on November 13.
- Oct 26, 2015
AceShowbiz - Alessia Cara has widely been introduced as a talented star with a very bright future ahead of her. First discovered via YouTube, the Canadian singer is now one the hottest young acts in the industry thanks to her debut single "Here" which became an instant hit.
Born to Italian parents who listened a lot to The Beatles, Queen, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson among others while she grew up, Cara understandably was in love with music. However, she initially hid her singing skills from her family. She would sing all by herself when no one's around.
"There was this period of time where I would be home alone for an hour because my parents were still at work and my brother was still at school. I would close myself in a closet and just sing really loud," she said in an interview with Complex. "As soon as I heard someone come home, I would stop. I'd get scared because sometimes I'd think that they heard me. I'd just belt for that little hour. I sang everything."
Her mother eventually found out about Cara's incredible vocals and encouraged her to show it off to others. She made her daughter sing in front of the other family members and helped her create her first performance video to be posted online. "If you want to do this as a career, you have to get used to doing it in front of people," Cara recalled her mom told her so.
The video featured her performing an Adele song. It was uploaded to Facebook and received positive feedbacks from her friends and family as well as her drama teacher, who then pushed her to sing at some school events. From there, she started her own YouTube channel and uploaded videos of her covering songs by popular acts "so I can see the reaction and get used to people hearing me."
Her cover of The Neighbourhood's "Sweater Weather" was the one that brought her to where she is now. Her take on the song was discovered by the daughter of her current production company's head. In order to score herself recording deal, she went to Los Angeles and offered her demos to every label there. Def Jam was the last company she had a meeting with and the one she ended up joining.
Under the label, which has housed the likes of Rihanna, Jay-Z and more, she released "Here" earlier this year. Produced by Pop & Oak and Sebastian Kole, and featuring a sample of Isaac Hayes' "Ike's Rap 2", the song was written by Cara based on a real party she once attended and regretted attending. "I felt like I couldn't talk to people. I didn't know where to stand. I don't dance. Feeling like you're the only sober one in the room is a weird feeling," she said of the party.
The song is still climbing up the charts. Most recently, it reached a new peak on Billboard Hot 100 when it jumped No. 23. First appearing on Cara's "Four Pink Walls" EP, the track will also be included on her upcoming debut album "Know-It-All" which she's just revealed will be released on November 13.
