Alyssa Reid Is in The Game

Chatting with Canadian Alyssa Reid about breaking into the music biz and her musical style.

You could say her hit single The Game put her ahead of the game, but Alyssa Reid is just getting started. Not only has this 18-year-old Canadian pop/R&B/soul artist spent a record-breaking number of weeks on Billboard’s No. 1 Canadian Emerging Artist chart, she was also nominated for a MuchMusic Video Award. Youthink recently caught up with the Edmonton-raised singer to talk more about her exciting music career.

YT: Wax Records came across your cover of Justin Bieber’s One Less Lonely Girl on YouTube and a few weeks later you got a record deal. Were you anticipating something like that to happen?

AR: Absolutely not at all! I had no idea. I put that video up as a joke and it just got around to the right people.


YT: What’s been the hardest adjustment for you since becoming a signed recording artist?

AR: I think the hardest adjustment has just basically been my relationships with people, because now I’m not around my friends or family as much, so I have to rely on myself a lot more – that part of it is difficult.


YT: How would you describe your debut album The Game in one word?

AR: I would probably have to describe it as “real.” That’s the best word I can use to describe it because it’s all about personal experiences that I’ve gone through; those are all personal emotions that I felt.


YT: How do you describe your musical style?

AR: I would describe my music as kind of pop/R&B/soul… I’d like to try and say soul because that’s what I grew up listening to… Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Etta James. I would love to say that that is what influenced my music today, but of course I have to stay with what’s current as well.


YT: You broke the record for most weeks in the top spot on Billboard’s Canadian Emerging Artist chart. What does this accomplishment mean to you?

AR: I still haven’t even, like, grasped it. It was just crazy to see it staying on the chart week after week... I was, like, almost waiting for it to drop, because it seemed so weird that I was actually still on the charts for so long.


YT: You’ve said that music is your world, so how would you finish this line: Music means everything to me because...

AR: It’s who I am. That’s honestly what I can think of!