ARTIST TO WATCH: Alessia Cara

19-year-old Canadian songstress Alessia Cara is the perfect combination of singer and songwriter. You may recognize her from YouTube, as she uploaded and array of song covers, such as (my personal favorite) her take on Justin Timberlake’s, “Mirrors”. She now has a record deal with Def Jam... you know, home to artists like Rihanna and Kanye West, NBD!

As you can clearly see (and hear) performing comes natural to her, almost effortlessly. She portrays what I like to call “comfortable confidence”. When she steps out on the stage, nothing else matters except the story behind the song. Time stands still.

Check out her cover of Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood”. She kills even Kendrick Lamar’s portion of the song!

Her EP, Four Pink Walls, debuted in late-August and it’s an absolute SMASH! Her song, “Here”, resonates with a lot of people due to its easy relatability and is definitely my personal favorite off the EP; she even performed it at the Streamy Awards!

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for her to release an album and go out on tour. She completely supports being who you are and we love that about Alessia!

Can’t get enough of Alessia? I thought so! Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Don’t forget to buy her EP out on iTunes right now!

(Photo via Mario Mitsis/WENN)

- Brittany Taormina, YH Contributing Writer