Yuna

“Fame is definitely a monster: it can suck you in and spit you out and change you. The biggest challenge is to remain yourself regardless of what people say about you.”

“Eid is here! On the first day, it is a custom for all Malaysian Muslims to ask for forgiveness from our parents. We kiss their hands and wish them 'Selamat Hari Raya' or 'Eid Mubarak.' 'Maaf Zahir dan Batin' means 'to apologize in spirit and actions.'”

“Whenever I write a new song, it always happens when I come back from Europe or Egypt or something like that. It's always from travelling.”

“I'm based here in L.A., but I think in the future I might consider settling down in Malaysia when I start a family.”

“I grew up in a town called Subang Jaya, and made a lot of friends from around Kuala Lumpur.”

“I have people who say, 'You should dress up like this, or you should dress more modest; you should cover up more.' And then, at the other end of the spectrum, you have, like, 'Why are you still wearing your scarf? You're in America, you know.'”

“I love my headscarf. I wear my head wrap every day with my hoop earrings.”

“In San Francisco, I eat halal, which is kind of like Muslim kosher, and there's this one Thai restaurant, and it's right next to the 'Great American Hall'. I'm there all the time whenever I'm in town; that's my spot.”

“Home, to me, is where I am and where I feel most comfortable. Obviously, Malaysia is home. In L.A., my home is my apartment because that's my Malaysia.”

“I grew up listening to a lot of different types of music, and R&B in particular was something that I loved - Aaliyah, Usher, Alicia Keys, TLC.”

“I know how to wrap my turban a little better now. In the beginning, it was a little weird.”

“I love Feist. I love Francoise Hardy. She was a French singer-songwriter in the '60s who was pretty huge. I think I'm drawn to her sincerity. I love Fiona Apple, too - she's quirky and really honest in her lyrics.”

“I kind of always struggled writing in Malay, because Malay is such a beautiful language. And it gets really hard, you know, if you want to make it into a song. You have to make it sound beautiful, use the right words.”

“Music has to change. I don't want to stay the same forever.”

“I always put on M.A.C. Prep and Primer before anything.”

“Lupe Fiasco is kinda cool. I like him a lot.”

“Being in the spotlight, you know, you tend to kind of forget who you are. And being an artist... it could be a very superficial job. It could be very pretentious as well.”

“I love Gwen Stefani. I'd watch what she'd wear over and over again and think, 'How do I nail this style?' And then, I like that classic beauty, too. Audrey Hepburn, she's so elegant.”

“I think when I first started out making music here in Los Angeles, a lot of people were really curious about my ethnicity, and you know, whatever questions they had, I'd be more than happy to answer them.”

“I've seen a couple white girls coming to my concerts wearing head wraps, and I think they look so cute. It's kind of sad to see that people are really into separation, trying to separate everybody and making a clear division of 'us against you,' even with fashion. That sucks. It's not the way the world is supposed to be.”