Alessia Cara opened up about her rise to stardom earlier this week, in a new interview where the Canadian pop singer admits that accepting the fame and success was a struggle.
"There was a void I didn't know how to fill,” Cara told the Canadian Press. "When you're going through something that is really beautiful, like my job, you almost feel guilty for feeling sad sometimes. You think, 'People are going to think I'm ungrateful if I talk about this,' so I just suppressed it, thinking that it would go away.”
The now Grammy-winning and Juno-winning Cara began her musical journey as a teen, posting YouTube videos, in her hometown of Brampton, Ontario, before her work caught the attention of executives at Def Jam records.
"I deserved to be up there at the end of the day and that's something I never give myself credit for," Cara admitted when discussing her Grammy-winning moment as Best New Artist last February. "I never tell myself that I deserve it and I thought this time it was important for me to say I do."
Cara released her latest single, “Growing Pains,” on Friday, which acknowledges the star’s personal growth and struggles along the way to the top.
MORE: LISTEN: Alessia Cara Is Back With 'Growing Pains'
"It's the first thing I've ever written totally on my own,” Cara said of the new single.
Cara’s “Growing Pains” is the first taste of the pop singer’s forthcoming second album, which is due out later this year.