Quotes from Alessia Cara

When I was really young, I was convinced I wanted to be a visual artist. I would paint and draw and make crafts.

I just try to tell my stories in a way that is still light-hearted and fun to listen to. I'm not trying to bash you over the head with what I have to say.

I loved the Black Eyed Peas. I was obsessed with them, and they were my favorite group ever, and Amy Winehouse, as well; I love her.

I don't want to have one hit, one song of the summer, and then have me disappear forever. I really want my things to last, and I want my songs and my bodies of work to resonate with people. I want to hit people - at least make a dent in them. I want to make a mark somehow.

I've always been self-conscious about my personality.

I love experimenting with clothes for photo shoots, but when I'm onstage, I want to show people that there are other options. You can just be yourself and still make good music.

I keep my hair curly and natural because I really just wanna show who I am.

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.

Cats are evil, and they hate me.

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 want everything, no matter what concept or genre, to feel real, because it is real. I want to keep making real music, I hope people remember me for that, that's a good thing to be remembered for.

It's hard to be taken seriously if you're a young, female artist making pop music; you never know how people are going to react.

I think patience is the best thing to try to embrace.

It's really great that people are seeing me as a credible person. That alone is great. And the fact that people make fan accounts for me and recognize me now sometimes is really strange and cool.

I actually didn't grow up watching 'Degrassi,' but I saw the commercials and knew the characters. I didn't realize that Drake was the guy from 'Degrassi.' I had to piece it together and go, 'Oh! He's Aubrey Graham.'

Everywhere I go, every city, they're always like, 'What's in the water in Canada? What's in the water in Toronto?'

I'd never make something pointless that I don't believe in. I don't think I could do it.

There's something so beautiful in a woman who loves her body and is confident.

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.

It's important to show that there's different ways of doing things. Some people like to be glamorous, and that's perfectly fine, and that's amazing. If I were that style, then I would do that. I'd wear heels every day, and I'd strut around in a dress, but that's not me.

When you give your all as an artist, and all people can talk about is what pants you're wearing, it's really frustrating.

I always get criticized for my clothing because I like wearing jeans and T-shirts. There's nothing wrong with dressing sexy. It's just I don't want to be anything that I'm not. I'm not here to be a fashion icon. I am here to make songs.

You don't always have to be popular and do things everyone else is doing.

I wasn't even popular at school.