Tori Kelly

“I'm so thrilled to be partnering up with William Rast. I'm such a fan of the brand and being a part of the new campaign has been amazing.”

“I would like to be somebody young people, young girls, can look up to.”

“I was actually signed at a very young age - I was 12 - and one thing led to another, and I ended up in a mutual split from the label. But it was probably the best thing that could have ever happened, because I was able to kind of leave the industry side of it for a minute and focus on the independent side.”

“I really like to rock it natural and let my hair go wild, but when I do style it, I slick all the hair over to one side with pins. It's either that or a messy bun.”

“When I walked into the studio, the chorus of 'Nobody Love' was already set. For me, the challenge was to make it have depth.”

“It's so important to me to take care of my voice. I do a lot of vocal warms-ups right before I go on.”

“I think, for me, the goal was never really for my EPs to go mainstream. I think the intention of them was to create a little bit of buzz and to show my musicality because I wrote and produced the EPs myself. The goal was to experiment, with no rules.”

“Everything I write about either I have gone through or I know somebody has gone through, so it's very close to me, but sometimes it's about taking those feelings and exaggerating on them a little bit: being a bit more dramatic but still keeping them relatable.”

“I started writing music when I was 15 in my bedroom, and I'd post them on MySpace, and from there it shifted to doing covers on YouTube and building my Twitter.”

“All my life, I was even just wanted to attend the Grammys, like, just be there, so the fact that I'm nominated for Best New Artist, it feels like a dream.”

“I remember growing up singing; even when I was just three years old, I was singing all the time in the house. My parents said I was singing before I could even talk properly.”

“I've never seen myself as a pop singer. I grew up listening to gospel, soul and rock. My approach to pop is that, when I was doing my album, I wanted to have raw, genuine lyrics, but wanted it to be easy to process.”

“After I shower and put in all my products, I hang out with the diffuser with my head flipped over for five to seven minutes. But before I use a hair dryer, I'll towel-dry my hair. Actually, drying your hair with an old T-shirt is a great trick. It helps to get all the extra water out, without bringing on frizz.”

“I think in 2016 I'm going to focus on performing a lot more and doing as many shows as I can. There's plans to tour more, and that's where my heart is - doing the live shows.”

“I really grew my own fan base. I started posting videos on YouTube with the help of my parents.”

“I feel really comfortable when it's just me and a guitar. It's special and more vulnerable to strip it down. It can be scary, but it's also empowering.”

“Gospel was the root of everything in my house, so there's a touch of that in everything that I do. If soul counts as a genre, I would also say that's the common thread throughout everything I do. There's rock and soul influence, too. The pop element comes at the very end and making the song catchy so people will remember it.”

“My first competition, I guess, singing-wise, I was six years old, and there's a video of it, too. I'm just, like, stick straight. I'm not moving at all, and I'm just singing.”

“Nineties hip-hop was a big influence for me; it still is. I love '90s everything. And it's when I was born, too. I'm a '90s kid for sure.”

“It'd be cool to do something with Coldplay, and Ryan Tedder's amazing.”