Muslim Singer Yunalis Mat Zara'ai '' Yuna '' Talks Being Muslim in Music

Yunalis Mat Zara'ai, professionally known as Yuna is a Malaysian singer-songwriter and businesswoman. Born and raised in Kedah, she began writing songs at age 14. She soon taught herself to play guitar, and by 2006, in need of a creative outlet while attending law school, performed for an audience for the first time. Yuna offered her music on her MySpace page, which went on to net over one million plays. This online success tipped off the Indie-Pop label/management company to her music, and in early 2011 she signed with the Fader label.

Yuna was raised in Alor Setar, Malaysia, by her legal-adviser father and chemistry-teacher mother. "It was a very ­conservative environment -- we watched what we said." Yuna spent her childhood focused on her ­education, set on becoming a lawyer. As a hobby, in between poring over textbooks, she taught herself guitar watching YouTube, writing songs in both Malay and English, inspired by her heroesLauryn Hill ("she was life-changing for me") and Feist. 


Music started taking priority a year before she graduated from university in 2009, when she self-released EPs to local acclaim and won second place in a national ­songwriting contest. At first, she felt like an outsider in the country's music biz. Malaysia may be predominantly Muslim, but much like in America, "women singers are seen as sexy here -- you have to let your hair out and be ­beautiful," she says. "I struggled with that." Instead, Yuna shrouded her image in mystery, ­letting her music speak for her. "I didn't put up a proper photo of myself -- it was cropped, up until my nose. People didn't know what I looked like until my first show. They were shocked in the beginning, but they accepted me."

Her music began attracting ­international fans online as well -- including her now manager Ben Willis, who encouraged her to chase bigger dreams and start over in Los Angeles. Things began quickly: Fader Label, the influential ­magazine's indie imprint, signed Yuna and introduced her to Williams, who produced much of her 2012 self-titled global debut (it peaked at No. 19 on the Heatseekers chart). In 2013, Yuna signed with Verve and released Nocturnal, which featured cutting-edge R&B producers like Om'Mas Keith (Frank Ocean).

But despite the warm welcome, Yuna still sometimes deals with criticism and condescension when it comes to her image. "People say, 'You should let your hair out; you shouldn't be oppressed -- you're not in Malaysia anymore. You should show your curves and be proud of it.' But I am proud -- it's my choice to cover up my body. I'm not oppressed -- I'm free."

Yuna loves Rihanna's music, praising several tracks from Anti, but doesn't feel the need to dress (or undress) like her. "It's easier to just be me and not try to look like her," she says. "I have nothing against Miley Cyrus onstage being herself, but girls like Adele and Andra Day, we don't get enough credit. We have talent; we don't count on the extra stuff. We just want to play music."

Yuna is On the Run in Her 'Places to Go' Video

Chapters is a breakup album, inspired by the crumbling of a real-life relationship, although Yuna doesn't offer many details in person. On the album, however, she puts it all out there, wondering aloud how he's moving on when she's stuck behind -- particularly on "Used to Love You," featuring Aiko, who pushed Yuna to come out of her shell. "She's very blunt and direct -- she expresses what other girls are feeling," Yuna says of Aiko. "I see her as a big sister. When I go through stuff, I listen to her music. The last two years of my life, she played a huge part in it."

Suddenly alone in Los Angeles, Yuna had to learn how to be "more tough" like Aiko, she says. "I used to be dependent on my ex. I didn't know how to love myself. So I made a mental note: 'In 2016, I'm going to be single.' When this album comes out, I want to be in a good place."

Yuna smiles when discussing her plans to push Chapters on tour in Europe and the States through May, and just bought a piano for her ­apartment to start work on a new album, which she says won't wallow in the sadness of the past. "Crush," featuring Usher, is her first song to crack U.S. radio, rising 22-18 on the April 30 Adult R&B chart. She says she feels at home in the Los Angeles soul scene, and America overall -- even as she warily eyes the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim fervor stoked by Donald Trump and others. "He's out there promoting hate, violence," she says. "It's really weird that this is acceptable in a ­modern, advanced country.

"But I'm not too worried about it," she adds. "I think you can soften people's hearts, even if they have a lot of hate. Music can do that, if it's beautiful and honest. If I can do that -- soften just one person's heart -- I consider myself successful already."

Yuna covered "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles for the 2012 film, Savages. The song was featured during the ending credits."Tourist" was featured as part of the soundtrack in season 1 of a US TV series,Arrow. Her song "Favourite Thing" was featured in another US TV series, Pretty Little Liars. She was featured in the Malaysian version of KakaoTalk advertisement, released in Malay, English, and Chinese language. She also recorded a song in collaboration with Adam Young of Owl City called "Shine Your Way" for the soundtrack of the animated film The Croods. The film was released by DreamWorks Animation in March 2013. A remix version of her song "Live Your Life" by MeLo-X appeared on the in-game radio station WorldWide FM in the video game Grand Theft Auto V. Another Yuna song "Lullabies" was also featured in the twenty-second episode, the season finale of the fifth season and also the series finale of 90210, the reboot of "Beverly Hills, 90210". Not only that, this song was also featured in Being Mary Jane. Yuna also had her song "Lights and Camera" featured on an episode of the third season of the US reality show Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta. Lights and Camera was also used as one of the soundtracks from Beyond the Lights. Yuna's version of A Whole New World from the 1992 Disney film Aladdin, featured in the Deluxe Edition (bonus track) for the album We Love Disney (2015 compilation album)

Yuna co-owns a women's clothes boutique, IAMJETFUEL, in Subang Jaya, Selangor. In 2014, she re-opened the shop with a new name, 'November Culture', which is also situated in Subang Jaya with a worldwide online presence. 14Nov by Yuna Zarai (brand name) are clothes and scarves that are designed by Yuna herself. She started introducing this brand in the US by promoting it in fashion shows (Fashion Fighting Famine or #FFFShow) in California. Besides that, she also opened a pop store in New York as well as Los Angeles.

Source

 the April 30 issue of Billboard. www.billboard.com

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