Alessia Cara performs live at The Roots Jam 2016.
Alessia Cara x The Roots, Shot by Victoria Ford for Sneakshot + Okayplayer.
Alessia Cara joined The Roots at the 10th annual Roots Jam Session at Hotel Café in LA to perform her hit single "Here" for a star-studded crowd.
She may dread getting stuck in the corner at your house party but rising star Alessia Cara was so "Here" for The Roots 10th Annual Roots Jam Sessions. Part private soireé and part open mic night for the stars (thanks to all the talent in town for The Grammys) the 2016 edition of this annual tradition proved to be one for the history books. The three-day residency in Hollywood brought out both the stars and those in the making. Night One was really focused on the fellas, including the likes of John Legend and Nelly, but on Night Two we had the pleasure of being treated to many new female voices in soul, pop, and r&b. Standout performance of the evening? None other than 19-year old Alessia Cara.
The Toronto-native and Def Jam signee, casually dressed in a black hoodie, tee, jeans, and a pair of Vans brought her A-game with her hit Isaac Hayes-channeling single, "Here." Her set began about half-way through the evening of music, so you can imagine that the crowd was a bit turnt up via their Martell cocktails at this point. Backed by The Legendary Roots, the petite lady with the big voice wowed the room with her wise-beyond-her-years vocals. Heads darted about around the room, as many could not believe that such a mature sound came out of the baby-faced songstress. The Portishead groove of the single makes the tune familiar to at least three generations of music heads, and had the crowd swaying back & forth, singing all the words they did or did not know.
Cara's performance was effortless. It was great to see her commanding the stage with such OGs, the crowd eating up every word, cheering her on at every moment. Watch the full video of Alessia Cara's performance of "Here" with The Roots below, and be sure to check out all of our coverage of this year's series. Keep it locked as we have more videos to come of George Clinton, Lenny Kravitz, Moses Sumney and Bilal!
