Alessia Cara

I'd like to shut off all the noise and allow people to be creative without all the judgments and standards that we think we have to follow. ”

My family is from the south of Italy in this little place called Calabria. It's a big part of my family, the Italian culture. I grew up around it. My parents speak Italian, and I speak Italian. ”

I had a fairly regular childhood. I was a pretty boring kid. I didn't do much. I was always thinking, but I didn't really say a lot. ”

I was a very strange child. ”

Ninety per cent of my family are hairdressers, and the other 10% are construction workers. ”

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

Beauty comes in all forms. It's not just external; it's internal as well. ”

I am stubborn enough to know not to change myself. ”

I first picked up a guitar when I was ten years old; my parents surprised me with it for my tenth birthday. I started taking lessons when I was thirteen, but only for a few months, and then I just kept teaching myself. ”

I feel New York is too crazy for me, especially when you go to Times Square. ”