Alessia Cara has responded to haters who don’t think she deserved to win the Grammy for Best New Artist on Sunday night.
"I didn’t log onto Grammy.com and submit myself. That’s not how it works,” Cara wrote on Instagram Monday.
“I didn’t ask to be submitted either because there are other artists that deserve the acknowledgment. But I was nominated and won and I am not going to be upset about something I’ve wanted since I was kid, not to mention have worked really hard for."
Cara also addressed criticism she’s been around too long to win the new artist category. "I'm aware that, yes, my music has become fairly popular in the last year,” she noted. “But I’m trying very hard to use the platform I’ve been given to talk about these things and bring light to issues that aren’t fair."
Artists who qualify for Best New Artist include those who "release, during the eligibility year, the recording that first establishes the public identity of that artist or established group as a performer.”