Faouzia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Faouzia
Faouzia in 2022
Background information
Native name	فوزية أويحيى
Birth name	Faouzia Ouihya
Born	(2000-07-05) July 5, 2000 (age 25) Casablanca, Morocco
Origin	Carman, Manitoba, Canada
Genres	Pop R&B synth-pop
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter instrumentalist
Instruments	Vocals piano violin guitar Darbouka
Years active	2015–present
Labels	Atlantic
Associated acts	David Guetta Ninho Kelly Clarkson Galantis John Legend
YouTube information
Years active	2013–present
Genre	Music Makeup
Subscribers	2.69 million
Total views	904.81 million
Subscriber and view counts updated as of 9 February 2025.

Faouzia Ouihya (born July 5, 2000), known simply as Faouzia, is a talented singer, songwriter, and musician. She is from Morocco and Canada. Faouzia was born in Casablanca, Morocco. Her family moved to Canada when she was very young. She learned to play many instruments and started writing her own songs. Before releasing her first collection of songs, called an EP, Stripped, in August 2020, she released several singles. She also worked with many other musicians. In 2023, she received a Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award.

Faouzia's Journey in Music

Early Life and Musical Start

Faouzia Ouihya was born in Casablanca, Morocco. Her parents are Mohammed Ouihya and Bouchra Alaoui. When she was just one year old, her family moved to Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba, Canada. They later settled in a small town called Carman, Manitoba. Faouzia has two sisters, Samia and Kenza. Samia helps manage her career, and Kenza is her photographer.

Faouzia grew up in a Muslim family. She often visited her home country, Morocco. She feels a strong connection to North Africa. She shared that she grew up eating Moroccan food and wearing Moroccan clothes. Faouzia also mentioned feeling different as a child. This feeling inspired her first song, which was about accepting everyone's differences.

Her love for music began at age four. She watched her sister Samia play the piano and wanted to learn too. Faouzia started writing songs and poems when she was five. She began playing piano at six. Later, she learned to play the guitar and violin. Faouzia speaks English, French, and Arabic fluently. She mostly uses Arabic with her family.

Starting Her Music Career

When Faouzia was fifteen, she won several awards at a competition called La Chicane Électrique in 2015. She won Song of the Year, the Audience Award, and the Grand Prix. She started sharing her songs and cover versions on YouTube. This led to her signing a contract with Paradigm Talent Agency. Her first song, "Knock on My Door," was released on November 1, 2015.

In 2016, she earned second place in the Canada's Walk of Fame Emerging Artist Mentorship Program. The next year, in 2017, she won the Grand Prize at the Nashville Unsigned Only music competition. That same year, she worked with Canadian artist Matt Epp on their song "The Sound." They also won the prestigious International Songwriting Competition. This is a very big songwriting contest. They were the first Canadians to win the top prize in the competition's history. They beat 16,000 other entries from 137 countries. Faouzia also performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday.

Faouzia was featured on the song "Battle" from David Guetta's album 7 in 2018. David Guetta praised her "great voice, powerful vibrato, and unique style." Faouzia said working with him was one of her proudest moments. At that time, she was studying computer engineering at the University of Manitoba. She also sang on the song "Money" for French rapper Ninho's album Destin. This song became very popular.

Releasing Stripped and Citizens

In early 2020, Kelly Clarkson asked Faouzia to translate her song "I Dare You" into Moroccan Arabic. This version was released on April 16. About a month later, the Swedish music group Galantis invited her to sing on their song "I Fly." This song was part of the soundtrack for the movie Scoob! (2020).

On August 6, Faouzia released her first extended play (EP) called Stripped. It had six acoustic songs. Five of these songs had been released before, and "100 Bandaids" was a new one. To share her new EP, she performed the songs live at a concert on August 20. On November 5, 2020, Faouzia released the song "Minefields" with American singer-songwriter John Legend.

On March 21, 2021, Faouzia released "Don't Tell Me I'm Pretty" on YouTube. On June 29, she released "Hero" with a music video that looked like a video game. In July, Faouzia shared that she had been working on her first full studio album for a few years. On October 28, she released "Puppet."

On March 30, 2022, Faouzia announced her second EP, Citizens. She released "RIP, Love" as a single from this project. Citizens came out on May 19. It included her earlier songs "Minefields," "Don't Tell Me I'm Pretty," and "Puppet." On October 7, she released "Habibi (My Love)."

On April 14, 2023, Faouzia released "I'm Blue." This song had been on YouTube since August 2019. As part of a project called Doll Summer, she released "Don't Call Me" and "Plastic Therapy" on June 9. Then came "La La La" on August 4 and "IL0V3Y0U" on September 8. On June 23, Faouzia and French DJ Martin Solveig released "Now or Never."

In 2024, she helped write the song "Beg Forgiveness" for the album Vultures 1 by ¥$ (Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign). Also in 2024, she joined the Chinese singing competition Singer 2024. She finished in fourth place overall.

Faouzia's Artistic Style

Faouzia performing at the 2017 Canada Summer Games

Music Style and Messages

Faouzia's music is a mix of pop, R&B, synth-pop, and acoustic pop. She describes her songs as "emotional" and "intense." Her early songs were inspired by people close to her. Later, her songs became more personal, as she wanted to put her "heart in my story." One writer noted that Faouzia's music has upbeat pop sounds but with very meaningful lyrics.

Faouzia has a powerful voice. She can sing very high notes. She mostly sings in English language. However, she often adds Arabic sounds to her singing. She has also performed songs in Arabic and French language.

Who Inspired Faouzia

Faouzia says her parents and sisters are her biggest inspirations for her music career. Growing up, she listened to many pop artists. These included Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Beyoncé, Sia, Adele, Kelly Clarkson, and John Legend. She said Rihanna has always been an inspiration. Faouzia also mentioned Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Sia as major influences for her songwriting. Some of her favorite songs are "Say Something" by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera, and "Hello" by Adele.

When she was young, she listened to Arab music artists with her parents. These included Umm Kulthum and Fairuz. Faouzia calls them two of her all-time favorite artists. She also listened to Assala Nasri and Khaled. When she was learning music, she listened to classical composers like Chopin, Bach, and Mozart. Pop rock bands like Fall Out Boy and Imagine Dragons have also influenced her. She even went to an Imagine Dragons concert.

Faouzia's Music Releases

Extended Plays

Singles

Songs as Lead Artist

Songs as Featured Artist

Other Songs on Charts

Guest Appearances

Music Videos

See also

In Spanish: Faouzia para niños