Yuna

Biography

Yunalis binti Mat Zara'ai Sinclair (née Yunalis binti Mat Zara'ai, Jawi: يوناليس بنت مد ظراعي; born 14 November 1986), known professionally as Yuna, is a Malaysian singer-songwriter. Her initial exposure came through the viral success of her music uploaded to Myspace, which received over one million plays. This online success alerted an indie-pop label/management company to her music, and in early 2011 she signed with the Fader Label. She is best known for her collaboration with Usher on her breakout single "Crush", which peaked at number 3 on the US Billboard Adult R&B chart. From 2010 to 2015, she was the 2nd Most Popular Female Singer in Malaysia with Siti Nurhaliza at first place and Stacy Anam at 3rd place. Born in Kedah and raised in Perlis and Selangor states to Perakian Malay parents of Buginese descent from Kuala Kangsar and Batu Gajah, 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 made her recorded debut album in Malaysia in 2008 with a self-titled EP, earned five Malaysian Music Awards nominations (the Malaysian equivalent of the Grammy). She took home four trophies, including Best New Artist and Best Song for her breakthrough hit "Dan Sebenarnya". The Decorate (EP) followed two years later. Decorate included the viral hit "Rocket," which won raves from Billboard magazine, indie rock radio station KEXP, and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, as well as a feature in Spin's "Eight Bands You Need to Hear Now". For her performances, Yuna was nominated as one of MTV's Iggy's Best New Bands in the World in 2011, and she marked the occasion by playing at the historic MTV Studios. The 2012 single "Live Your Life", produced by Pharrell Williams, was a preamble to her self-titled full-length debut, which arrived that April. That summer, Yuna appeared at Lollapalooza. In 2013, Yuna returned with the album Nocturnal, featuring the single "Falling". In February 2016, Yuna previewed her third album with the release of "Places to Go", a single produced by hip-hop artist DJ Premier. The full album, Chapters, was released three months later. In December 2016, Chapters broke into the Top 10 of the Billboard Best R&B Albums of 2016: Critic's Pick; Chapters ranked at number 7. Yuna received an award for the Most Successful Malaysian Singer from the Malaysian Book Of Records. Chapters was also nominated in the Top 20 Best R&B Albums of 2016 by Rolling Stone magazine. Yuna performed as a special guest at the 2016 Soul Train Music Awards. In May 2017, Yuna became the first singer from Asia to be nominated for a BET Award; Yuna received a nomination for the BET Centric Award for "Crush", her duet single with Usher.

== Early life == Yuna grew up in Subang Jaya, Selangor and Kangar, Perlis, in Malaysia.

=== Education === Yuna attended SK Seafield, SMK Derma, Kangar, Perlis and SMK USJ 4 Subang Jaya, Selangor. After that, Yuna attended Universiti Teknologi MARA in Shah Alam, where she studied legal studies at its Faculty of Law. In 2009, she graduated with a Bachelor of Legal Studies (Hons.) degree.

== Career ==

=== 2001–2010: Beginnings and early success === Yuna began writing her own songs when she was 14 years old and began performing at age 19 after she learned how to play guitar. She has performed in numerous acoustic shows and events in many parts of Malaysia since 2006. The same year, she auditioned for the first season of One in a Million, making it to the top 40 round before she was eliminated from the competition. In October 2008, she released her second EP, the self-titled Yuna. Its single "Deeper Conversation" became a hit in Malaysia. Her meteoric rise in the Malaysian indie music scene was helped by the strong following she gained on Myspace. Her first studio album, Decorate, was released in July 2010 under her indie label Yuna Room Records.

=== 2011–2013: Early international breakthrough ===

Yuna was eventually discovered in the US by the indie-Pop record label and management company. They flew out to Malaysia to convince her to sign with them and then proceeded to get her a deal with Fader Label, a record label based in New York, in February 2011. She released her debut US EP, Decorate, in the United States in March 2011. On 24 January 2012, her single "Live Your Life" debuted on iTunes. The track was produced by Grammy Award-winning producer, Pharrell Williams. MTV Iggy described the track as, "polished until it gleams but instead of burying Yuna, it lifts her up. The track has hinted that a diva is waiting to shine." On 16 February, the official music video for "Live Your Life" was released. On 24 April 2012, Yuna's US debut self-titled album was released. Debuting at No. 23 on the Pop chart and No. 86 on the Top 100 Albums on iTunes, Yuna was also No. 23 on Billboard's Heatseekers Chart. Accolades from fans and critics alike, such as Billboard, NPR, Elle, The New York Times, Vibe Claire and National Geographic, who stated that her sound is "as fresh, honest and deeply personal as anything by Bon Iver or Tune-Yards," have been rolling in. Yuna performed "Live Your Life" on late-night TV shows Conan and Last Call with Carson Daly. She was featured on the CBS Evening News in a featured profile piece and toured with Graffiti6 with stops at Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza. She also contributed to the Savages soundtrack on the track, Here Comes the Sun. Yuna also performed as part of the Lollapalooza 2012 line up. Yuna was the first runner-up of MTV Iggy's Best New Bands in the World. She performed at the historic MTV Studios in Times Square, New York singing "Decorate", "Come As You Are", "Lullabies" which is produced by Chris Braide and her new single "Live Your Life", which is produced by Pharrell Williams of N.E.R.D. Yuna recently signed with Verve Music Group. Multiple Grammy-winning producer David Foster, who heads the creative operations of Verve, tweeted: "I'm really excited about the next hot artist to join Verve Music. Stay tuned and keep an eye out for Yuna in 2013". She also made the Heatseekers Album chart on Billboard with "Live Your Life".

=== 2013–2015: Nocturnal === Yuna released her second international album, Nocturnal on 29 October 2013 by Verve Records. "I Want You Back" featuring Vietnamese rapper, Derez aired on "Love & Hip Hop: New York" 20 January 2014. On 9 January 2014, Yuna graced the Jimmy Kimmel Live! studios, promoting her new album, Nocturnal. She performed the singles "Falling" and "Rescue" with assistance from a live band. In December 2014, Yuna released the song "Broke Her" as a single. It features a sample of Drake's 0 to 100. On 31 January 2015, Yuna performed in the closing ceremony of 2015 AFC Asian Cup. She has been appointed as Malaysia's tourism adviser to boost tourist arrivals in the country along with Dato' Siti Nurhaliza and Datuk Jimmy Choo Yeang Keat in June of the same year. Yuna recorded the song Strawberry Letter 23 by singer Shuggie Otis used in a commercial for Swedish fashion retailer H&M starring Ukrainian-Canadian model Daria Werbowy that aired in March 2015.