Alessia Cara

It's so cool though when I see thirty-year-old men that are coming in to watch my shows. It's like, 'You really like my music? Like a teenage girl, you relate to it?' It just proves how much people are alike. ”

Looking For Alaska' by John Green is a very great book. I feel like every teenage girl says John Green's 'Fault In Our Stars,' but 'Looking For Alaska' is better. ”

As a female and someone who's young, I'm still coming into my own, and I still have struggles. I know how I look; I know what my flaws are - I don't need anybody to tell me that. ”

I see songs in colors; I see days of the week. Each day of the week I relate to a gender, and it's very weird. I can taste words sometimes. It's very strange. ”

Other than the 'Sesame Street' soundtrack, which I was obsessed with, the first artist I really felt I'd discovered on my own was Amy Winehouse. She was the first female artist I wanted to write like and sing like and be like. ”

I didn't start writing songs, honestly, until I started making my album. I was always doing poetry, but I never thought I could write songs. I discouraged myself and thought it was so hard. But starting this process and learning just what it is to be a songwriter and performer taught me that you don't have to feel discouraged about anything. ”

I never thought I'd have a career because of YouTube. ”

We should just know that we can all create this special, safe place within ourselves that we can feel comfortable in and that doesn't necessarily have to be with other people. ”

The definition of being a feminist is equality, and if you're not a feminist at this point, then what are you really promoting? ”

As a kid, my parents would always listen to a lot of Beatles, Queen, Elvis. My mom was born and raised in Italy, and my dad was born in Canada and moved back and forth between Canada and Italy, so they would also listen to all the big Italian stars like Eros Ramazzotti, Gigi D'Alessio, Tiziano Ferro, Laura Pausini. ”