When doe-eyed Canadian Nuela Charles released her debut Aware in 2012, she became the very first recipient of the inaugural Edmonton Music Prize in 2013. (She won $8,000 and Edmonton street cred for having the city’s best album.) Since then, you’ve probably heard her songs — "Crash," "Final Round," "Unfortunate Love" and "Good In Me" — on MTV, Showtime and VH1, as well as regular spins on Los Angeles station KCRW. Her sophomore set, The Grand Hustle, is “the culmination of four very transformative years,” Charles says. “Through discovery, love, loss and recovery I have learned to fight for what I want.” Its songs are about overcoming hardships. She adds, “My story is all about the comeback. Sometimes you have to fall. Hard. And then you get back up, dust yourself off and return even stronger.”

Hometown: I was born in Kenya, then moved to Switzerland, Canada, the Bahamas and then back to Canada. So….the world?

Homebase: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Is Nuela your real name? Does it mean anything?

My real name is Manuela — but Nuela just has so much more drama behind it, no?

Describe your music to people who haven't heard it before.

I tend to say it’s like a soundtrack to a James Bond movie — “cinematic soul."

How did you discover music?

As a child I was fortunate enough to have parents who both loved music. I grew up on a mix of Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Stevie Ray Vaughn and even Garth Brooks. As a child I was in the school choir, but it wasn’t until we moved to the Bahamas, during the female singer-songwriter era (Avril Lavigne, Michelle Branch, Fefe Dobson), when I started teaching myself how to play the guitar and as a result started writing songs. I then ended up leading the youth group music team at my church for a couple of years. I loved being able to play music and see people’s mood get lifted and it was then that I knew that I wanted to be an artist.

Why is your album called The Grand Hustle?

This album is called “The Grand Hustle” because it encapsulates this feeling that I have had over the last few years. It’s been a continual “hustle.” Every day it seemed to be one step forward, another step back, and so on. It would’ve been easy for me to just give up, but I can’t see myself doing anything else. So for me it’s “The Grand Hustle."

Describe your songwriting process.

This differs all the time. Sometimes if inspiration hits, I’ll grab my guitar and roughly map out the song. If not near an instrument, I’ll grab my phone and “voice memo” my idea. I’ve really fallen in love with co-writing, so I tend to [gravitate] towards getting in on sessions. Usually there will be a producer and two top liners, who would then write the lyric overtop of the track that’s being worked on - it creates such a great creative energy. I love it.

Who are your musical heroes?

I’m constantly inspired by artists who are continually pushing forward and not falling on the trends.

Always love: Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Alanis Morissette.

What's the craziest thing a fan has ever done for you?

A couple of years ago I played at Canadian Music Week in Toronto, and there were some ladies who drove up to my show from Detroit. Made my week!!!

Does living in Edmonton influence your songwriting?

I love traveling — I get so much inspiration from it — but I think living in Edmonton allows me to focus and develop new ideas. There’s such a great community of artists here. Everyone supports each other — it’s so great.

Were you on Myspace back in the day?

Myspace was really my first endeavor into publicly showcasing my music. It was a great beginning for me.

If you were a hashtag, what would you be?

#TheGrandHustle

What’s on your bucket list for the rest of 2016?

Finish strong.

For more profiles on up-and-coming artists, visit our Artist of the Day page.