Yunalis Mat Zara’ai (born 14 November 1986 in Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia), commercially known as Yuna, is a Malaysian singer, songwriter, and businesswoman.
Yunalis Mat Zara’ai was born on the 14 November 1986 in Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia to parents from Perak. Yuna is of Bugis descent. Her father, Dato’ Mat Za’raai is the current legal advisor of Pahang and her mother is a high school teacher.
Yuna attended SMK USJ 4, where she completed her secondary education. After this, Yuna attended Universiti Teknologi MARA in Shah Alam, where she studied law at its Faculty of Law. In 2009, she graduated with a Bachelor of Legal Studies (Hons.) degree.
During her tertiary studies, Yuna was involved in the music scene. Yuna is an independent Malaysian singer-songwriter. She began writing her own songs when she was 14 years old, and her first performance of her own songs was at the age of 19, after she learned how to play guitar. She has performed in numerous acoustic shows and events in many parts of Malaysia since 2006.
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 the same year.
One of the first few people who expressed interest in her music was Farhan Fadzlishah aka Pa’an (Telephony Delivery), who later became her supporting guitarist. Along the way, Efry Arwis (Lightcraft) helped her with the bass while Adib Azfar handled the drums. Adil Ali (Seven Collar T-shirt) replaced Adib Azfar after the latter quit to concentrate on his drumming role in Oh Chentaku. Yuna performs with her band when she is not active in acoustic gigs.
On January 24, 2012, her new 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 hints that a diva is waiting to shine." On February 16, 2012, the official music video for "Live Your Life" was released.
On April 24, 2012, Yuna’s U.S. 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, NY Times, Vibe Claire and National Geographic, who raves that her sound is “as fresh, honest and deeply personal as anything by Bon Iver or tUnEyArDs," have been rolling in.
She 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 started out as a solo MySpace artist in 2006, singing in both English and Malay.
Yuna’s meteoric rise in the Malaysian indie music scene is largely due to the strong following she gained via Myspace. Having played at many gigs since the release of her Demo, EP and then two local albums, she is now focusing on promoting and performing music on her debut US Album. Yuna also will be a part of Lollapalooza 2012 line up.
In 2008, she released her self-titled EP which become a massive hit in Malaysia most notably the single ’Deeper Conversation’.
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".
In 2012, Yuna was recognized with a National Youth Icon Award, awarded by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, for her exceptional achievements in arts.
Yuna describes her music as "a cross between Mary Poppins and Coldplay". She explain about musical style, "I can’t believe people still hold onto that! It was a quote that I had on, like, my MySpace music page seven years ago. But yeah, what I meant to say is I like to incorporate a lot of different genres in my music, and, you know, having a sense of honesty and sincerity in the lyrics as well. But I’m still pop at the same time."
Yuna had cited Coldplay, Bob Dylan, and Feist as influences. She was introduced to those bands when her dad listened to a lot of ’70s rock music. She think that was her "first exposure to English music." Growing up in Malaysia, she listened to a lot of The Cardigans, Fiona Apple, Garbage.
Yuna is 1.71 m (or 5’ 7") tall. In addition to her other career and interests, she co-owns a women’s clothes boutique, IAMJETFUELshop, in Subang Jaya, Selangor as a side project.
Yuna was romantically linked with the Malaysian TV host Qi Qushairi Razali in the past, but called it quits in early 2012 when it proved too difficult to balance their relationship while Qi lives in Malaysia.
Here is Yuna:
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