International Pop Star Yuna Shows Us Her Malaysian Roots

Jordan Bailey

It’s a rare occasion when an international singer-songwriter makes an impact on the ever-present conundrum that is American pop-culture. For native Malaysian Yuna, it has been 10 years in the making. The music of Asian artists has made its mark in recent years, particularly with the introduction of K-Pop, but Yuna shows us a different side of what we’ve been accustomed to from the East. An observant listener can even discern Malaysian influences in songs like “Rescue” and “Falling” as Yuna has been known to use native instruments and styles from her country. As Yuna begins her nationwide tour, she took time out of her busy schedule to talk with Entertainment Voice about her Malaysian roots and her upcoming album.

What’s been the most surreal experience for you about becoming a sensation in American pop culture over the past few years?

Moving out here and making albums with tons of producers like … Pharrell. One of the most fun things that I did was working on a song for the movie “The Croogs.” Basically everything is just a lot of fun!

You’re currently in the middle of your fall tour, which took you from gigs in Singapore and Malaysia to the States. What’s your favorite part of touring internationally?

Going to places that I’ve never been before, seeing places for the first time. For example, a couple of years ago we went on a European tour, it was my first time performing in Europe. My favorite part of these (international) tours is going to these new cities and finding out that I have fans, like real people showing up at my shows! I went to Berlin for the very first time and I had people coming to my shows, which was really weird but really cool to see someone from Berlin who could actually relate to my music.

As a native Malaysian, how would you describe the music scene in your home country?

In Malaysia, the music industry is very label oriented, anybody who wanted to make music would have to find a music label and then they would be able to put their music out there, but that’s slowly changed over the past 10 years. I think the music industry in Malaysia is like a younger version of America I think. There’s traditional Malaysian music, then there’s pop, and then there’s rock, and then there’s hip hop, and it’s all very new but it’s growing, and I’m excited to see what it will become in the future.

What has Los Angeles come to mean to you creatively, given that it’s become your second home?

I love LA! For me I’m able to be very creative. I was able to be creative back home in Kuala Lumpur but it gets pretty hectic because I’ve already established a music career out there so whenever I want to go out for a walk it’s pretty difficult for me to do so. I’ve seen every corner of Malaysia pretty much but out here everything is pretty new to me. It’s just the place, the weather, it just allows you to be more creative. And the energy of the city itself is refreshing. I feel like it’s easy to get inspired and creative because you’re constantly meeting people and you get that drive.

You seem to be able to flawlessly combine elements of music, fashion and religion into your overall style. Was it always important for you to connect these aspects of your life?

Yeah, definitely, because I’m a singer-songwriter and I mostly write all of the songs myself, so they’re mine. They’re songs that speak for me, my character and my personality, the person that I am. So those three things (fashion, music, religion) have a lot to do with who I am. Whenever I create … people have to know who I am. I think people can see through you. If you put out something that’s very surface-y and superficial, they know that.

You’ve said that you have some new music coming out next year. What can we expect and how do you think it will differ from your previous album “Nocturnal”?

For this album, it’s very R&B influenced, it’s very urban. [Previous] songs like “Lights and Camera” and “Lullabies”… this album is really a continuation of those songs. I wanted my vocals to really be prominent on this album. I worked with a couple of great producers, and Jhene Aiko and Miguel. It’s a great album actually and I can’t wait to put it out there.