Manitoba-raised pop star Faouzia reflects on Juno nomination, flourishing music career

She's amassed millions of views on YouTube with her towering voice and energetic beats, and even collaborated with John Legend. 

And now, Manitoba's Faouzia (a.k.a. Faouzia Ouihya) has earned another accolade in her rapidly rising music career: Juno Award nominee. 

"I was sitting on the couch with my sister and we were watching everything go by, and then my name popped up on the screen and I was just like, so stunned. I had no words," she told Up to Speed host Faith Fundal. 

Faouzia has been nominated for breakthrough artist of the year at the 2022 Juno Awards, which were announced earlier this week. 

"It took a little while for it to sink in. But I was just so honoured and I felt so lucky and just very happy to be nominated."

It's been a big few years for the 21-year-old musician from the small town of Carman, Man.

In 2020, she released a collaboration with Grammy-winning American artist John Legend and her debut EP, Stripped. 

A full length album is still in the works, but to date, Faouzia has already amassed two million followers of her YouTube channel and Instagram.

All this while also working on completing her computer engineering degree at the University of Manitoba. 

LISTEN | Faouzia speaks with Up to Speed host Faith Fundal:

Working with Legend — who also has an Oscar, two Emmy Awards and a Tony Award to his name, along with multiple Grammys — was "surreal" and gave her a huge boost of confidence to keep moving forward with her music career, she said. 

But it also reminded her of the ability of music to connect people. 

"He's had many, many, many, many more years of experience than me, but we both found ourselves there in that moment. And I think it's just very special, that music can bring people of any age, of any status and part of their career together," she said. 

"It just really shows that music isn't about all the big things and all of the glamour or whatever it is, and 'you need to do this and you do that.' It's just such a simple thing."

Her latest single, Puppet, already has more than 1.6 million views on YouTube after debuting last month. In it, Faouzia sings about empowerment and breaking free from others' expectations. 

She said she was ecstatic to see how many people had viewed and liked the song, because she connected strongly with its message. 

"So to see that reaction was really special, and what I really loved is lots of people were dropping, like, their experiences in the comments and what they went through," she said.

"It was just really, really nice to read that and to know that my music can help them through this moment."

Faouzia says fans can expect a lot more music from her in the near future.

"It's like a moving train now, so I'm very excited."

The Juno Award ceremonies are set to take place on May 15 in Toronto. 

You can find out more about the other Manitoba musicians nominated here.