Malaysian singer Yuna talks about dressing as a Muslim and life in Trump’s America
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Malaysian singer Yuna talks nearly dressing as a Muslim and life in Trump's America
The Los Angeles-based indie-popular superstar tells Chat With that she is frustrated with people dictating what women should wear, just also reveals her geeky side.
Malaysian singer Yuna at a recording with Conversation With in Jakarta, Indonesia. (Photo: Kane Cunico)
JAKARTA: When Yuna arrives for this interview, she turns heads down the dim hotel hallway. Her 1.7m-tall frame is decked out in U.k.-based fashion characterization Monki, boosted past heels and completed with her iconic headdress – a lavender-blueish ombre turban that she regularly uses in place of her hijab.
Her style is an antonym to the style in America's R&B and popular music scene, where revealing clothes and the sex factor are frequently de rigueur. Yuna – whose real name is Yunalis Mat Zara'ai – stays truthful to her Islamic faith by dressing modestly, doing her all-time to make sure her aurat (intimate parts) are covered in accord with Islamic law.
Yet, till today, she has to explain advertizing nauseam to people at home and abroad why she chooses not to sacrifice either her music success or her religious identity for the other, and why she tin practise both.
"I have had a lot of people telling me what to wear, what not to article of clothing, and I imagine, 'Oh my god, similar this is actually what girls are going through today'," she said in an interview with Conversation With, which airs Th (March 23) at 8.30pm.
Females – though non Yuna herself – are oftentimes told that "if y'all desire to be an artiste, you have to article of clothing sexy clothes, you have to wear short skirts". She added: "I'k glad I didn't have to go through that. Hopefully, what I'm doing now is changing the fashion people come across the manufacture. It's not just about sex activity appeal."
Merely she has her fair share of haters within Asia as well, who sometimes have umbrage with her progressive and trendy versions of pocket-size dressing. She took to Instagram in July 2022 lambasting conservatives who criticised her for exposing her neck in a 2022 Barney's ad entrada.
"They are telling me, 'Oh, you shouldn't vesture the turban, you should wear the scarf, like the full scarf," she said.
"But I am over that. I turned thirty this year so it is kind of weird that I let that bother me for a very long fourth dimension throughout my 20s."
LIFE IN TRUMP'S AMERICA
Los Angeles-based Yuna also spoke passionately about failure and rejection in the music scene, parental approval, and life in an America under Donald Trump who, in 2015, called for a "total and consummate shutdown of Muslims" entering the U.s..
But Yuna doesn't come across her Muslim identity or her hijab as under threat.
"I am in Los Angeles and there is a lot of diverseness. People are more open to new cultures.
"I don't see it (the scarf) as a barrier. If you lot want to think of information technology every bit something difficult… you will experience extremely uncomfortable, and I try to not think about that when I practise my work," she said.
Yuna broke into Malaysia's music scene in 2006, playing guitar while attention constabulary school and uploading her music to her MySpace page. Her blend of English language and Malay indie-folk songs, backgrounded past her ukulele, made her the poster kid of the café civilisation kids and young hipsters in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, while winning local and regional awards.
Her 2022 debut EP got her international attention, and caught the eye of hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. Her production credits today include collaborations with artistes such every bit Pharrell Williams, DJ Premiere and a creative partnership with Usher, culminating in her transition from indie-folk to R&B with her album, Capacity.
YUNA'S LIGHTER (Nighttime) SIDE
"I'd be a Jedi in Star Wars," she said. "Considering I am contesting evils."
The pick of lightsaber presented more than of a dilemma. "I like red simply I can't have (a) red (lightsaber) though; red is like the Night Side. Whatsoever. I would be like red, merely still on the good side, you know?"
Yuna admits that her pick of favourite Star Wars installment would probably rile die-hard Star Wars fans. Simply – as she has done throughout her professional career – she stands business firm on her selection.
"It is kind of embarrassing, only y'all know what… I was really young when I watched this, and then, I really similar Episode One," she said. "I know a lot of people are going to, similar, detest me for that."
Watch the full interview with Yuna on the season finale of Conversation With on Thursday, March 23, eight.30pm (SG/HK).
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