Faouzia Ouihya ( ar, فوزية أويحيى, ; born 5 July 2000), known

mononymously A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

as Faouzia, is a Moroccan-Canadian singer-songwriter and musician best known for her track "Tears Of Gold". Born in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

, she moved with her family to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

at a young age. During that time she learned how to play various instruments, and began composing her first songs. She released several singles and collaborated with many musicians on vocals and songwriting prior to releasing her debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

( EP), ''Stripped'', in August 2020.

Life and career

2000–2014: Early life

Faouzia Ouihya was born in Casablanca, Morocco and moved with her family at the age of one to

Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba Notre Dame de Lourdes is an unincorporated community recognized as a local urban district in the Municipality of Lorne within the Canadian province of Manitoba that held village status prior to January 1, 2015. It is located within the Central ...

, before settling in the rural town of Carman, Manitoba. She has two sisters: Samia (one of her managers) and Kenza (her photographer). She was raised Muslim and often traveled to her native country. Faouzia said she feels "very connected to the country and the region orth Africa Even though I grew up in Canada, I grew up eating Moroccan food, ndwearing Moroccan attire." 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. 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. 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. She speaks fluent English, French, and Arabic; the latter being the one she mostly used with her family.

2015–2019: Career beginnings

At the age of fifteen, she won Song of the Year, the Audience Award, and Grand Prix at the 2015 ''La Chicane Éléctrique''. She began posting her songs and other covers on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

which led to a contract with

Paradigm Talent Agency Paradigm Talent Agency is an American full-service entertainment agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, Chicago, Toronto, Monterey, Nashville, Berkeley and Austin. Paradigm Talent Agency has more than 200 agents representing cl ...

. Thanks to her early success, she released her debut single "Knock on My Door" on 1 November through various platforms. In 2016, she won second place in the

Canada's Walk of Fame Canada's Walk of Fame (french: link=no, Allée des célébrités canadiennes) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of Canadians who have excelled in their respective fields. It is a ...

''Emerging Artist Mentorship Program''. In 2017, she was the recipient of the Grand Prize at the Nashville ''Unsigned Only''

music competition A music competition is a public event designed to identify and award outstanding musical ensembles, soloists, composers, conductors and musicologists. Pop music competitions are music competitions which are held to find pop starlets. Examples ...

. 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. The two are the first Canadians in competition's 16-year history to win the top prize, beating 16,000 other entries from 137 countries. She performed with the

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Its primary concert venue is the Centennial Concert Hall, and the orchestra also performs throughout the province of Manitoba. The WSO presents an average ...

The Forks, Winnipeg The Forks (french: La Fourche) is a historic site, meeting place, and green space in downtown Winnipeg located at the confluence of the Red River and the Assiniboine River. The Forks was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1974 d ...

celebrating the

150th anniversary of Canada The 150th anniversary of Canada, also known as the 150th anniversary of Confederation and promoted by the Canadian government as Canada 150, occurred in 2017 as Canada marked the sesquicentennial of Canadian Confederation. Planning Major pl ...

. Faouzia is featured in the song "

Battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

" on

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...

's studio album '' 7'', announced on 24 August 2018. 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. 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." At that time, she enrolled in the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Ninho William Nzobazola better known by his stage name Ninho (; born 2 April 1996)Destin'' and the song got certified "Gold Single" on 9 July 2019.

2020–present: ''Stripped'' and ''Citizens''

In early 2020, she was invited by

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debu ...

to translate her song "I Dare You" to Moroccan Arabic, which was released on 16 April. About a month later, the Swedish EDM duo

Galantis Galantis is a Swedish electronic dance music production, songwriting and DJ duo consisting of Christian Karlsson and Linus Eklöw. Karlsson is also known as Bloodshy as part of two other musical groups, a duo (Bloodshy & Avant) and a trio (Mi ...

invited her to feature in their song "I Fly" for the soundtrack of the movie ''

SCOOB! ''SCOOB!'' is a 2020 American computer-animated mystery comedy film produced by the Warner Animation Group, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is a reboot of the theatrical'' Scooby-Doo'' film series and the third theatrical film b ...

''. Faouzia released her first

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

(EP), ''Stripped'', on 6 August 2020. It features 6 stripped (acoustic version) songs, 5 of which were previously released, and one of which, "100 Bandaids", is a new track. To promote the EP, Faouzia performed the tracks live in a concert at the

Burton Cummings Theatre The Burton Cummings Theatre is a theatre located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Built by local impresario Corliss Powers Walker, it was originally known as the Walker Theatre. The building was renamed after singer-songwriter and Winnipeg native B ...

on 20 August. On 5 November 2020, she released the single "

Minefields A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

" alongside American singer-songwriter

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Eve ...

. In July 2021, Faouzia revealed that she has been working on her debut studio album for a few years. She also released the singles "Don't Tell Me I'm Pretty", "Hero" , "Puppet" and "RIP, Love". On May 19, 2022, Faouzia released her second EP, ''Citizens''.

Artistry

Musical style and themes

Faouzia is a pop, R&B, synth-pop, and acoustic pop artist. She has described her music as "emotional" and "intense". 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." Gloria Morey noted that her music has "the musical elements of upbeat pop songs which often contain quite shallow lyrics, but Faouzia’s lyrics are very meaningful and, well, the opposite of shallow.” Faouzia possesses a potential coloratura mezzo-soprano

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of st ...

that spans from C♯ ₃ to G₅ in mixed voice and A₆ in whistle tones. Faouzia sings mostly in

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

, featuring Arabic tonalities in her vocals. She has also performed in Arabic and in French language.

Influences

Faouzia cites her parents and sisters as her biggest influence in pursuing a music career. She grew up listening to pop musicians Rihanna,

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

, Ariana Grande,

Rosalía Rosalia Vila Tobella (born 25 September 1992), known mononymously as Rosalía (, ), is a Spanish singer. Born and raised in the outskirts of Barcelona, she has been described as an "atypical pop star" due to her genre-bending musical styles. ...

, Beyoncé,

Sia Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...

, and

. About Rihanna, she said "has always been an inspiration of mine growing up and still to this day." Faouzia added that she, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Sia are her mayor influences as a songwriter. She told that " Say Something" by A Great Big World featuring

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

and "

Hello ''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the '' Norwich ...

" by

are some of her favourite songs. At a young age she listened alongside her parents to

Arab music Arabic music or Arab music ( ar, الموسيقى العربية, al-mūsīqā al-ʿArabīyyah) is the music of the Arab world with all its diverse music styles and genres. Arabic countries have many rich and varied styles of music and also man ...

acts such as

Umm Kulthum Umm Kulthum ( ar, أم كلثوم, , also spelled ''Oum Kalthoum'' in English; born Fatima Ibrahim es-Sayyid el-Beltagi, ar, فاطمة إبراهيم السيد البلتاجي, Fāṭima ʾIbrāhīm es-Sayyid el-Beltāǧī, link=no; 31 Dece ...

and

Fairuz Nouhad Wadie' Haddad ( ar, نهاد وديع حداد, ; born November 21, 1934), known as Fairuz ( ar, فيروز, ; also spelled Fairouz, Feyrouz or Fayrouz), is a Lebanese singer. She is considered by many as one of the leading vocalists a ...

. Faouzia declared they "are two of my all-time favourite artists." She also listened to

Assala Nasri Assala Mostafa Hatem Nasri ( ar, أصالة مصطفى حاتم نصري; born 15 May 1969), commonly known as Assala ( ar, أصالة), is a Syrian musical artist. She is one of the most popular and famous Arab singers. Early life and career ...

and Khaled. When she was learning music she listened to composers Chopin,

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

, and Mozart. Pop rock bands

Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy is an American rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurle ...

and Imagine Dragons have also served as influences for her, and she attended one of the latter's concerts.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

Notes

As featured artist

Videography

References

External links

* * * *
Faouzia
on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

{{Authority control Canadian women singer-songwriters Canadian singer-songwriters 2000 births 21st-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Moroccan women singers Franco-Manitoban people Living people Moroccan emigrants to Canada Musicians from Manitoba People from Casablanca