In the last couple of years,
she’s been stepping
into all kinds of new
worlds that would have
previously felt foreign.
Of course, that includes
voice acting, but maybe
even more signifi cantly,
becoming a live TV per-
sonality as was supposed
to be the case when she
was announced as the
host of the 2020 Juno
Awards broadcast. While
the show, like all of Juno
Week, was cancelled just
ahead of its mid-March
run due to COVID-19, the
fact that she was ready
to step up and slay it still
counts for something.
But while the ideas
are free-fl owing, there is
one downside to her (and
everybody’s) current sit-
uation: no in-person col-
laboration – something
Cara has been thriving on
since day one.
“I know this might
sound a bit … whatever,
but it’s just all about if
it feels right,” the artist
says when asked about
what draws her to certain
shared projects. “I don’t
ever like to do collabora-
tions just to do them; we
live in a really collabo-
rative era and you see
them everywhere, which
is great, but I don’t want
to throw myself on some-
one’s song or throw them
on mine just because.”
Some that have
checked her boxes in the
past include the Zedd
collab, the 2017 smash “1-
800-273-8255” alongside
Logic and Khalid, plus
successful pairings with
Troye Sivan, JoJo, Juanes,
Bastille, and others.
“They’ve defi nitely
pushed me genre-wise
and sonically to do things
I wouldn’t,” she tacks on.
Speaking about “Stay” in
particular, she elaborates:
“I normally wouldn’t have
made a song like that on
my own, but the fact that
it was a collaborative ef-
fort with someone I really
got along with and liked
and admired, I ended
up doing it, and I’m so
glad I did. It took me into
the whole other world
of dance music, which I
typically don’t dabble in
on my own.”
“Taking chances, even if you’re not
100 per cent ready, is a good thing.
I think when you’re always in your
comfort zone, you’re never going to
grow. You’re never going to see
where you can go.”
“When I got asked to
do the Junos, I probably
wouldn’t have even said
yes last year. I didn’t think
I could have had enough
adrenaline or courage to
take that on, but you’re
always growing; you’re
always learning new
things about yourself.
Taking chances, even if
you’re not 100 per cent
ready, is a good thing. I
think when you’re always
in your comfort zone,
you’re never going to
grow. You’re never going
to see where you can go
– your full potential. You’ve
just gotta try, and I feel like
I’d regret certain things if I
didn’t just try to do them.
It’s usually after the fact
that I fully realize what’s just
happened.”
It’s remarkable to think
of all she’s accomplished on
the back of that attitude thus
far – from Know-It-All to done-it-all in less than fi ve years; from an
unassuming teenager with her beanie pulled low to a movie star
and awards gala host. What’s more, she’s stayed proudly anchored
in her homeland while her profi le soars the world over. Seeming-
ly, for every MTV VMAs performance is a Grey Cup Halftime Show;
for every big-budget feature fi lm is a quirky, off -the-cuff hotel
room vid with a pal like Scott Helman, and people seem to ap-
preciate that. You can tell a lot about someone by the company
they keep, after all, and “proud Canadian” is just another facet of a
genuine, complex personality.
Alessia Cara is a superstar, pure and simple, but it’s her art – her
identity as a songwriter and creator – at the core of everything. If
you asked her to choose between being an international celebrity
singing other people’s songs or staying in obscurity and singing
her own, she’d probably pick the latter.
Fortunately for all of us, she’s good enough to not have to
choose in the fi rst place, and can just keep on conquering on her
own terms.
Andrew King is the Editor-in-Chief of Canadian Musician.
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