Faouzia served vocals and blew us away during her debut concert in Malaysia last week. The 23-year-old singer sang her biggest hits during her show at Plenary Hall KLCC but that wasn’t all. Throughout the show, Faouzia took the time to share about about her life, the meaning behind some of her songs, and also her experience in Kuala Lumpur.
Seeing as how Batu Caves is one of the top cultural tourist spots in the country, many would usually recommend it to celebrities visiting Malaysia for the first time. While not everyone is guaranteed to enjoy Batu Caves, Faouzia shared that she actually loved her time there. In fact, her encounter with one of the monkeys there made it all the more memorable – despite the pouring rain.
“I think I made a few monkey friends,” Faouzia cheekily told the audience. “I hope they remember me when I go back. I almost got hit by something that a monkey threw and I feel very honoured. This country is so beautiful and the people here are so beautiful. I want to thank you all for all your support from the beginning.” The Moroccan-Canadian pop star even posted a short clip of said monkey on her Instagram post.
Prior to that, we were fortunate enough to meet up and have a one-on-one interview with Faouzia. Over the past month, the singer-songwriter has released 3 singles – including “Now Or Never”, a collab with DJ Martin Solveig. As for the cover artwork for singles “Don’t Call Me” and “Plastic Therapy”, Faouzia explained, “I’ve been saying that it’s a doll summer so I wanted to create a doll that would be on the face of all the songs coming up this summer. “Plastic Therapy” and “Don’t Call Me” are connected to “CITIZENS” because the doll is still dressed in the way that I was in “CITIZENS”. And you’ll be seeing more of this doll later on this summer, for different songs.”
In addition, we also got Faouzia to share her personal “First Time(s)” with us. Here are the first times she…
Performed in public.
Faouzia: The first time I performed in public was a piano recital. And I remember that I didn’t win. I think I played really badly and I was really nervous so I just played the piano and I think I was 5 or 6.
Travelled abroad.
Faouzia: The first time I travelled abroad was, technically, when I was 1 – when we immigrated to Canada. But if we’re excluding that – it was when I was 8, when we went to Morocco to visit my family.
Encountered a fan in person.
Faouzia: I don’t remember the first time I met a fan, but I remember the first time that a fan tagged me online. It was in 2017, and I remember they tagged me in something and I was like, “Mama, look! This fan made this thing! It’s so cool!” *laughs*
Filmed her music video.
Faouzia: The first music video I filmed was when I was 15 and it was for a song that isn’t online anymore. *laughs* But yeah, I remember I was in the middle of nowhere and I was pouring gasoline on – I don’t remember, was it a piano or a car? – I don’t know. The video is gone from my brain too, apparently. *laughs*
Met John Legend.
Faouzia: The first time I met John Legend was on set for our video, “Minefields”. We were meeting at a distance, at first. And he was in his trailer and I was very far away. And I was like, *waving* “Nice to meet you!” And then I properly met him at the piano when we shot our scene together.
Met Kelly Clarkson.
Faouzia: The first time I met Kelly Clarkson was at the studio. And she’s one of the sweetest people ever and I was teaching her how to sing in Arabic. And she was so nice! I remember she was like, “I don’t want to mess this up. How do I do this exactly?”. So we were just practising back and forth at the studio.
When she discovered her “RIP, Love” dance had gone viral on TikTok.
Faouzia: I think it was one day when I woke up and there were 2,000 videos made and I was like, “What? That’s so crazy!”. And I remember, that every time I would go to sleep, because of the time difference; like, this was when Malaysia and Indonesia and this part of the world would wake up. So every time I’d go to bed and wake up, there’d be 20,000 videos made and I’m like, “What happened when I was sleeping?” It was so crazy! It just happened all at once, and (it started) when there were these two girls who made a dance and it went viral and people started replicating the dance.
Felt that she’s made it.
Faouzia: I don’t think I’ve felt that yet. *laughs* Because I feel like everything has been so gradual. I feel like I’m always reaching for what’s next and I don’t know if I’m like, “Yeah! I’ve made it!” I feel like I still have so much more that I want to do.
You can also check out our previous interview with Faouzia here.
