Music over law career? No regrets, says Yuna

SINGAPORE — For Malaysian singer-songwriter Yuna, making the choice between two vastly different career choices was not something she had to overthink — in fact, the road to music seemed to be paved quite organically.

Speaking exclusively with TODAY from Los Angeles, where she has been based since 2011, the 29-year-old sounds almost blase when reflecting on how she ended up making music over practising law.

“I wanted to be a singer, but I knew it was very unrealistic at the time. So I went to law school, but towards the final year of doing my law degree, I started writing music,” she recalled.

“It just came to me naturally and it was something that I was really excited about, and I hadn’t been excited about something in a really long time.”

After graduating law school, the lass, born Yunalis Mat Zara’ai in the north-western state of Kedah, found music taking the forefront in her life “little by little”.

“I started getting a lot of shows and was recording my EP ... I don’t have any regrets,” she added firmly.

Considering how her music career has been progressing over the past few years, that is hardly surprising.

After gaining traction as an indie artiste in Malaysia, Yuna was signed by independent record label Fader, under which she dropped her first international album, Decorate (2011), followed in quick succession by a self-titled full-length record (2012).

That album featured the production talents of artiste-producer Pharrell Williams, and led to opportunities performing at major festivals such as Chicago’s Lollapalooza and appearances on popular late-night TV shows, including Conan and Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Since then, her discography has expanded even further to include 2013’s well-received Nocturnal and her latest effort Chapters, which was released in May and is decidedly more R&B/hip-hop-skewed than her previous works. It has been named one of the year’s best R&B records by music magazine Rolling Stone.

For the album, Yuna collaborated with industry bigwigs such as legendary producer David Foster, DJ Premier and Usher, who features on the album’s lead single Crush.

Describing the latter as “a really genuine person (who) genuinely cares about music and his craft”, the multi-faceted performer says she took away a very important lesson after working with him.

“He taught me that no matter how big you get, you need to stay humble and give people a chance to create something with you ... for him to agree to do a song with me and trust me was amazing,” she gushed.

Yuna, who was last here for a one-night-only concert in October last year, will return to Singapore later this year to perform at the Neon Lights festival at Fort Canning Park on Nov 27.

Speaking to her, it is easy to see why one might be inclined to put his or her trust in her — the down-to-earth singer answers questions extremely matter-of-factly, even when it comes to questions about her religious beliefs and personal life.

Asked if she feels people perceive her differently because she wears a headscarf, and she replies candidly in the negative.

She said: “When people want to talk about it, I’m very open about it. I don’t like to hide things, and why do I need to hide it? I don’t reveal my skin, I don’t reveal my hair, and I dress modestly.

“I talk about me being Muslim because it’s part of my identity. It’s going to be with me until the day I die, you know? There’s no point hiding, but I always like to — not push the topic away — but bring the media back to the fact that I’m a musician and I’m just a normal girl.”

Still, if there’s one thing Yuna prefers to maintain at least a smidgeon of an air of mystery about, it’s her relationships, despite the fact that many of her songs deal with the L word.

Admitting that “there is someone I care about a lot”, she revealed: “Of course I have plans to settle down (but) not right now. I’m getting busier with work so it’s kind of hard to have an actual relationship.”

She added with a laugh: “I prefer to not have my relationships out in the open because I went through that before and it didn’t turn out well. Now, as I’ve gotten older, (I realise that there are) some things about me that I would prefer to keep private.” VICTORIA BARKER

Yuna will perform at the Neon Lights on Sunday, Nov 27 at Fort Canning Park. The two-day festival features acts such as Sigur Ros, Foals and Crystal Castles. Single-day passes start at S$120 and are available from www.neonlights.sg