# Faouzia
**Faouzia** (full name Faouzia Ouihya, born 2000 in [Casablanca](https://www.edgepedia.org/casablanca)) is a Moroccan-Canadian singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist known for R&B- and Arabic-influenced pop with a wide vocal range, and for collaborations with [David Guetta](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-guetta), Kelly Clarkson, Galantis, and [John Legend](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-legend).[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/faouzia-mn0002831080) She emerged as a solo artist with the 2020 EP *Stripped* and the single "Minefields" with John Legend, and released her full-length debut album *FILM NOIR* in November 2025 as an independent artist.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/faouzia-mn0002831080)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 2000, Casablanca, Morocco; raised in rural Manitoba, Canada from about age one[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/faouzia-mn0002831080) • [2](https://www.socanmagazine.ca/features/meet-the-21-year-old-with-more-than-570-million-worldwide-streams/) |
| Style | R&B- and Arabic-influenced pop; classically trained pianist who also plays violin and guitar[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/faouzia-mn0002831080) |
| Breakthrough | "Tears of Gold" (late 2019), followed by "Minefields" with John Legend (2020), her first US iTunes Top 10 entry with over 100 million global streams[3](https://www.faouziaofficial.com/) |
| EPs | *Stripped* (2020, six tracks) and *Citizens* (2022, eight tracks)[3](https://www.faouziaofficial.com/) • [2](https://www.socanmagazine.ca/features/meet-the-21-year-old-with-more-than-570-million-worldwide-streams/) |
| Debut album | *FILM NOIR* (November 2025), her first project as a fully independent artist; extended edition *FILM NOIR (fin)* with 14 tracks released June 2026[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/faouzia-mn0002831080) • [4](https://www.melodicmag.com/features/interviews/faouzia-on-film-noir-finding-her-way-and-her-us-festival-debut/) |
| Languages | Fluent in English, French, and Arabic; sings in all three[2](https://www.socanmagazine.ca/features/meet-the-21-year-old-with-more-than-570-million-worldwide-streams/) • [5](https://www.cntraveler.com/story/women-who-travel-faouzia) |
## Early life and training
Faouzia's family moved from Casablanca to Manitoba when she was about one year old, settling in Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, a rural community near the small town of Carman.[2](https://www.socanmagazine.ca/features/meet-the-21-year-old-with-more-than-570-million-worldwide-streams/) Her parents kept Moroccan culture present at home: the family spoke Arabic and French, ate Moroccan food, and listened to Moroccan and [Arabic music](https://www.edgepedia.org/arabic-music), and Faouzia has said that entering the house felt like being back in Morocco.[2](https://www.socanmagazine.ca/features/meet-the-21-year-old-with-more-than-570-million-worldwide-streams/)
**Musical education.** At age six she began eleven years of piano-based study, and she also learned violin and guitar.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/faouzia-mn0002831080) She started writing her own songs at six.[3](https://www.faouziaofficial.com/) Her singing absorbed the ornamental style of Arabic vocalists: she has cited the Egyptian singer [Umm Kulthum](https://www.edgepedia.org/umm-kulthum) and the Lebanese vocalist Fairuz as influences, and said she imitated their trills from a young age.[3](https://www.faouziaofficial.com/) Her listening also included Moroccan acts such as Fnaire and Cheb Khaled alongside Adele and Beyoncé.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/faouzia-mn0002831080) That background shows up in her pop songs both in melodies, as in "RIP, Love," and in vocal technique, such as the trills and stretched words on the ballad "Thick & Thin."[2](https://www.socanmagazine.ca/features/meet-the-21-year-old-with-more-than-570-million-worldwide-streams/)
She balanced music with academics, majoring in computer engineering at the [University of Manitoba](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-manitoba) while her career developed.[2](https://www.socanmagazine.ca/features/meet-the-21-year-old-with-more-than-570-million-worldwide-streams/)
## Early career and collaborations
At 15, in 2015, she released her first song, "Knock On My Door," which amassed over a million streams on Spotify; that year her song "Mes Cicatrices" won the grand prize in a competition held by Le 100 Nons, a francophone music advocacy group in Manitoba.[3](https://www.faouziaofficial.com/) • [6](https://www.shazam.com/artist/faouzia/414067643) In 2016 she and the singer Matt Epp became the first [Canadians](https://www.edgepedia.org/canadians) to win the International Songwriting Competition with "The Sound," which reached the top of the CBC Radio 2 Top 20 chart and earned a SOCAN No. 1 Song Award.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/faouzia-mn0002831080) • [2](https://www.socanmagazine.ca/features/meet-the-21-year-old-with-more-than-570-million-worldwide-streams/)
A run of self-released singles began in September 2017 with "My Heart's Grave."[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/faouzia-mn0002831080) Guest spots followed: she provided vocals and songwriting for David Guetta's "Battle" on his 2018 album *7*, appeared on the French number-one album *Destin* by the Parisian rapper Ninho (the single "Money"), sang the [Moroccan Arabic](https://www.edgepedia.org/moroccan-arabic) version of [Kelly Clarkson](https://www.edgepedia.org/kelly-clarkson)'s "I Dare You," which she translated herself, and featured on Galantis's "I Fly" from the *[Scoob!](https://www.edgepedia.org/scoob)* soundtrack.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/faouzia-mn0002831080) • [7](https://www.magazinesocan.ca/features/voici-une-jeune-artiste-de-21-ans-aux-570-millions-decoutes-autour-du-monde/)
## Breakthrough and major-label years
The late-2019 single "Tears of Gold" marked her breakthrough; she has described it as the most personal song she had written to that point, with the Middle Eastern melodic inflections she considered true to herself.[3](https://www.faouziaofficial.com/) After signing with [Atlantic Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/atlantic-records), she released her first major-label solo single, "How It All Works Out," in July 2020, followed a month later by the six-track EP *Stripped*, a collection of piano-led, pared-down versions of earlier material.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/faouzia-mn0002831080) • [3](https://www.faouziaofficial.com/)
**"Minefields."** The 2020 ballad "Minefields," a duet with John Legend, became her widest-reaching release: it gave Faouzia her first Top 10 entry on the US iTunes charts, passed 100 million global streams, reached number 1 on the French pop charts, number 2 on the all-genre chart, and number 2 on French airplay.[3](https://www.faouziaofficial.com/) By mid-2022 her cumulative streams across YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, TikTok, and other services exceeded 570 million, with more than two million YouTube subscribers; the "Minefields" video alone stood at 81 million views and "Tears of Gold" at 30 million.[2](https://www.socanmagazine.ca/features/meet-the-21-year-old-with-more-than-570-million-worldwide-streams/) She was also named Canada's first YouTube Artist on the Rise and appeared in publications including *VOGUE Arabia*.[3](https://www.faouziaofficial.com/)
Her second EP, *Citizens*, arrived in 2022 with eight songs of Middle Eastern-tinged dance-pop and ballads, including "Minefields."[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/faouzia-mn0002831080) • [2](https://www.socanmagazine.ca/features/meet-the-21-year-old-with-more-than-570-million-worldwide-streams/) Further collaborations followed, including [Martin Solveig](https://www.edgepedia.org/martin-solveig)'s 2023 song "Now or Never" and work with [Alan Walker](https://www.edgepedia.org/alan-walker).[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/faouzia-mn0002831080) • [8](https://www.lodj.ma/file/243206/)
## Singer 2024 and independence
In 2024 Faouzia competed on the Chinese television show *Singer*, produced by Hunan TV and Mango TV, and became one of the competition's finalists.[9](https://www.arabtimesonline.com/uploads/imported_images/pdf/2024/jul/Arabtimes05jul2024.pdf) • [4](https://www.melodicmag.com/features/interviews/faouzia-on-film-noir-finding-her-way-and-her-us-festival-debut/)
**Going independent.** Her relationship with Atlantic Records ended, which she attributed to creative differences, saying she felt pulled in a direction against her own.[10](https://riffmagazine.com/interview/faouzia-breaks-free-on-film-noir/) Her debut album *FILM NOIR*, released in November 2025, deliberately skips the songs from her Atlantic period in favor of tracks she owns the masters to; the 11-track record draws on both pop songs and Arabic- and French-inflected dramatic ballads.[10](https://riffmagazine.com/interview/faouzia-breaks-free-on-film-noir/) She has described the album as a journey through healing after a period in which, in her words, life stripped away everything familiar.[4](https://www.melodicmag.com/features/interviews/faouzia-on-film-noir-finding-her-way-and-her-us-festival-debut/) The single "UNETHICAL" went viral and put her on the cover of Spotify's Pop All Day playlist.[4](https://www.melodicmag.com/features/interviews/faouzia-on-film-noir-finding-her-way-and-her-us-festival-debut/)
An extended edition, *FILM NOIR (fin)*, with 14 tracks, followed in June 2026.[11](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/faouzia/414067643) In 2026 she made her US festival debut at [Lollapalooza](https://www.edgepedia.org/lollapalooza) in Chicago and gave her first concert in her birth city, headlining [Jazzablanca](https://www.edgepedia.org/jazzablanca) in Casablanca.[4](https://www.melodicmag.com/features/interviews/faouzia-on-film-noir-finding-her-way-and-her-us-festival-debut/) • [12](https://telquel.ma/2026/07/04/faouzia-a-jazzablanca-le-maroc-ne-vous-quitte-jamais_1997549)
## References
1. [Faouzia Biography by James Wilkinson, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/faouzia-mn0002831080)
2. [Meet the 21-year-old with more than 570 million worldwide streams, SOCAN Words and Music (June 29, 2022)](https://www.socanmagazine.ca/features/meet-the-21-year-old-with-more-than-570-million-worldwide-streams/)
3. [About Faouzia, Official Website](https://www.faouziaofficial.com/)
4. [faouzia on FILM NOIR, finding her way, and her US festival debut, Melodic Magazine (September 14, 2026)](https://www.melodicmag.com/features/interviews/faouzia-on-film-noir-finding-her-way-and-her-us-festival-debut/)
5. [Women Who Travel Podcast: Faouzia on How Morocco Shapes Her Music, Condé Nast Traveler (September 21, 2023)](https://www.cntraveler.com/story/women-who-travel-faouzia)
6. [Faouzia, Shazam artist page](https://www.shazam.com/artist/faouzia/414067643)
7. [Voici une jeune artiste de 21 ans aux 570 millions d'écoutes autour du monde, Paroles & Musique (June 29, 2022)](https://www.magazinesocan.ca/features/voici-une-jeune-artiste-de-21-ans-aux-570-millions-decoutes-autour-du-monde/)
8. ["Last Song": Alan Walker et Faouzia unissent leurs talents, Lodj.ma](https://www.lodj.ma/file/243206/)
9. [Arab Times, July 5, 2024 edition (PDF)](https://www.arabtimesonline.com/uploads/imported_images/pdf/2024/jul/Arabtimes05jul2024.pdf)
10. [INTERVIEW: Faouzia breaks free on long-awaited debut LP, 'Film Noir', RIFF Magazine](https://riffmagazine.com/interview/faouzia-breaks-free-on-film-noir/)
11. [Faouzia, Apple Music artist page](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/faouzia/414067643)
12. [Faouzia à Jazzablanca : "Le Maroc ne vous quitte jamais", TelQuel (July 4, 2026)](https://telquel.ma/2026/07/04/faouzia-a-jazzablanca-le-maroc-ne-vous-quitte-jamais_1997549)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Individual musical biographies › Pop and R&B singer-songwriters › Pop singers, 2000s to present › R&B and hip-hop-influenced pop singers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license