Moroccan-Canadian Singer Faouzia On Visiting Dubai, Keeping In Touch With Her Arabic Roots and Working with John Legend

Here, in CHANEL’s latest Cruise collection, she reveals how she will stand the test of time

We catch up with Faouzia Ouihya the day after her second major headline show and she’s buzzing with excitement; the packed show at New York’s famous Bowery Ballroom comes just four days after the Moroccan-Canadian star sold out LA’s The Roxy.

The 22-year-old wowed the New York audience with her vocal gymnastics, dressed in a purple velvet, custom-made, futuristic design by LA-based designer Dymond Warren. The highlight for most fans was the eye-watering high notes on the beautifully haunting ballad Minefields – the single that features guest vocals from a certain John Legend.

The sold-out Bowery Ballroom show follows just three weeks after Casablanca-born Faouzia performed Minefields with John at the CHANEL Cruise show in Dubai, with him sitting at a black baby-grand piano and her gently resting against it.

“Singing the song with him after almost a full year of the song being out felt like such a special moment,” said Faouzia, who has also collaborated with Kelly Clarkson and David Guetta. “After the song has had some time to be out there in the world and has hit different milestones, it almost felt like a celebratory performance,” the singer added.

And although Faouzia is gaining huge momentum, with 1.8 million followers on Instagram alone, and millions of streams for each of her singles, she is still early in her career. So how does it feel to have collaborated with, well, a legend like John so early on?

“Collaborating with John was an absolute dream. When I got the song back with his vocals on it, it felt so surreal,” she remembered. “I couldn’t believe it at first, especially when I heard his voice harmonising with mine, I didn’t want to tell anyone until the song was sure to come out, but it was really hard to contain my excitement.”

And she was just as overjoyed to have had this ‘celebration’ reunion on her first visit to Dubai, and on stage for the French fashion house.

“Dubai is absolutely stunning – it almost didn’t feel real with how beautiful it was. The skyline kept taking my breath away every time I would see it and everyone there was so kindhearted,” she gushed. “Being at the CHANEL show was a dream, I’ve been a big fan of not only the clothes but the make-up and accessories for a very long time. My family wears CHANEL fragrances so it felt surreal being at the show and being able to experience it live. I met Penelope Cruz and Bruno Pavlovsky, President of Fashion at CHANEL; I had a blast.”

Faouzia is no newcomer to the world of fashion, her videos and live performances showcase her eye for contemporary style. “I love to dress up and be really extra when I’m ‘Faouzia the artist’. I love to have fun with my fashion and be a little out of the box,” said the musician who learned to play piano at the age of six, going on to study Chopin, Bach and Mozart. “I’ve always loved expressing myself through clothes. I think that fashion, just like music, says so much about a person and you can express so many different worlds through clothes. I’ve been really loving a brand called Dulce that has very cute casual and dressed-up attire – it’s so chic and effortless. Also, [Saudi designer] Ashi has stunning gowns and one of them actually made an appearance in the Minefields video.”

But she admitted she is most comfortable in “sweats, a sweater and nice shoes” when she’s taking some rare time away from her stacked music schedule. “I like to relax by reading and spending time with my family and friends,” said Faouzia, who moved to Montreal, Canada at the age of one, before the family settled in the quiet agricultural town of Carman, Manitoba. “Playing video games with my little sister is always a great way to unwind and I absolutely love going on late walks with my friends and just talking about life,” she said.

But Faouzia is so focused, time off is hard to come by, and more collaborations are high on her to-do list.

“I would love to work with Rihanna, Beyoncé, Ariana Grande and Doja Cat, they’re all strong female vocalists and I really do love their style of music.” But dream partnerships aren’t reserved for western singers alone.

“I would love to collaborate with Cheb Khaled and Nancy Ajram, I grew up listening to them and they both had an influence in my music and my style of singing,” she explained, going on to talk about the other music she remembers from her childhood. “I also grew up listening to the classics like Fairuz and Umm Kulthum, as well as a lot of Chaabi music. I have a lot of memories of when I first moved to Canada and my family and I would go camping and my dad would play all types of music in the car on our way there. It’s a special memory that really influenced my music today,” she reflected.

Faouzia was also keen to talk about her Arabic roots. “I still practice Moroccan traditions today, I remember eating couscous with my family every Friday. We still do that now, it’s just not weekly,” she shared. “Also, celebrating Eid with my family is an element of my childhood that I remember and still practice today with my immediate family.”

The singer’s growing success with a western and Arabic audience alike makes her a rare breed, and she wants to use this global platform to spread a positive, feminist message to young women, and the lyrics to her latest single, Puppet, do just that.

“That is definitely the message I wanted to convey with this song. Puppet is all about being true to yourself and not settling for anything less than what you want. It’s also about having the freedom to make our own choices and to be able to live our lives in our own truth,” explained the star, who says female empowerment is a priority for her. “It’s so important! I think it’s important to remind women of how strong, intelligent, and beautiful they are in a society that seems to always try to do the opposite. I want young girls all over the world, and young Arabic girls like me, to know that you don’t need to change for anything – whether it be for a person, a job, a passion.”

She continues to add: “So many people will try to change who you are to fit their standards, but these standards are imaginary rules that are created with pressure and shouldn’t be followed if it’s not something you want to do,” she proclaimed.

The star, who sings in English, French and Arabic on her tracks, has a final message for her young, Arabic fans. “Keep striving, keep pushing and going against the current, especially if it means you are being yourself at the end of the day.” As a singer who is bridging languages, cultures and musical influences, Faouzia is shaping up to be the voice of her generation.

Lead image credits: White dress in cotton jersey, sleeves embroidered with petals and leaves in silk chiffon and double georgette, strass and beads, POA, CHANEL.

Photography by Fouad Tadros. Fashion Director: Anna Castan. Hair: Michel Kiwarkis at MMG. Make-Up: Toni Malt at Things By People. Producer: Johana Dana. Video: Mattia Holm. Producer’s Assistant: Ines Guendouz. Stylist’s Assistant: Nehal El Mezeny.

From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s December 2021 issue