I was first introduced to Christina Grimmie only a few months ago. My sister's boyfriend was over at our house, hanging out, when he hijacked my sister's laptop. He began browsing YouTube and chose to listen to a Christina Grimmie playlist.

Christina began posting videos of her cover songs a little over a year ago. She sang anything from Nelly to Selena Gomez and the Scene, and she recently has taken the world by storm. She is currently on tour with Selena Gomez, and has begun work on her debut album.

I was recently given the opportunity to interview Christina exclusively for Teen Ink.

RH- Tell us a little about yourself.

CG- I'm that girl that's a hardcore musician and loves to sing and write and play instruments, but at the same time loves video games, metal music, and just being a goofy person!

RH- How did you first become interested in music?

CG- Ever since I was a little girl. A baby, really. I just always loved to sing. I got my first CD player when I was pretty young and to this day cannot not listen to music every time I'm in the car. I've always wrote songs and sang in my room for hours growing up. Always recording on my karaoke machine on little cassette tapes, pretending I was selling them. {laughs}

RH- Who prompted you to post a video of yourself singing on YouTube?

CG- My best friend, Lauren. And I'm so grateful that she convinced me to do so.

RH- Did you ever expect your videos to become so popular?

CG- Never in a bajillion years! It's a blessing I've come so far, and I'm humbled by so many of the fans that love my covers and original material. They amaze me.

RH- What was your reaction when you found out that you would be touring with Selena Gomez?

CG- To be honest, kind of blank. I just couldn't really say anything for awhile. I'm assuming it was because I was in an odd mental shock, and couldn't fathom everything that I had just been told about going on tour. I came off a little nonchalant, like "Oh…well, that's cool…" But before you know it, I woke up the next morning and it all hit me right in the face and I was pretty excited!

RH- What has been your favorite part of touring?

CG- The performing and singing, of course!! And meeting the amazing people that brought me so far, the fans. And I'm loving the free food at each venue, as well. {laughs}

But being on the stage is so freeing. It's the feeling that I have every time I sing in my room by myself (which is all the time), not to mention even when I was a little girl! And the feeling is amplified when I'm on stage because I can interact with the crowd and it's…just the greatest feeling in the world. You know, next to eatin' the amazing free food, duh.

RH- What city are you most looking forward to visiting? 

CG- Definitely Pennsylvania. Pretty much my entire family is going to the shows there, and even my friends and acquaintances from school.

RH- What is your favorite song from your upcoming album so far?  

CG- That's almost like picking a favorite child. {laughs} I love all of my songs equally, they all had hard work put into them. However, "Not Fragile" makes a great song to just rawk out to when you're tired. {laughs}

RH- Did you write the songs yourself?

CG- I actually got to write on the majority of the songs. I wrote "Unforgivable" and "Find Me" completely on my own. I'm so happy people dig it!

RH- If you could collaborate with any artist in the future, who would it be and why?

CG- Skrillex. He is the greatest thing since…Zelda. Yeah, I went there.

RH- Will you continue to post your covers on YouTube?

CG- Unfortunately, I'm not going to be posting covers forever. Every artist has to grow and experience their own paths, rather than always doing other people's songs. Covers are always awesome to do, and for concerts in the future, I will definitely play them. But as for Youtube, I will post them as long and as often as I can. And as for posting videos in general, I'll always post videos! I won't let my amazing subscribers down, they brought me so far!

RH- What advice do you have for aspiring singers?

CG- If you ever feel as if your not being yourself, slap yourself in the face. You can't risk trying to be a different person for the sake of "what people say" or "what sells best". Don't fake anything, it's gonna mess with you. As for vocal advice, practice will bring you so darn far. If you check back to my older videos, I had a very mellow, soft voice. Didn't have much of a range and always worried about my high notes. But then Christina Aguilera really started to inspire me and push me to be a great singer not just a good singer. It's been over a year since I've been inspired by her and listening to her. And compared to my older videos, my voice has matured and grown and I have a way bigger range. PRACTICE!

RH- Do you have a special message for your fans?

CG- You guys mean the world to me. You've stuck with me and hopefully I haven't let you down. And I gotta give a shout out to my Lord Jesus Christ, for blessing me with a voice and such a passion for music. Team Grimmie, I love all of you so much and you rawk! :D m/