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" I think, from the very beginning, I always knew that I needed to get out of Malaysia and do my thing somewhere else. "

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" 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. "

" 'Material' is meant to be a fun, lighthearted song about the tiny bit of materialism that's in all of us. The message is meant to translate the notion that you don't need luxury items to feel special; you already are special. "

" Being a musician, it's my job to be real and be true to whoever I am. Hopefully that will inspire other people. I hope it inspires people to be themselves and be comfortable in your own skin. "

" I think feminism is that you just have to stick it all out. I remember this one time when someone interviewed me, and I was young, and they said, 'Do you see yourself as a feminist?' And I was like, 'I don't know. I'm not really comfortable calling myself a feminist.' "

" Racism is everywhere - the older generations in Malaysia still say things like, 'She's darker-skinned; maybe don't marry her,' and it's very judgmental. A lot of girls do try to get fairness cream to lighten their skin, and I'm against all of that. "

" I was truly honored to work with legendary DJ and producer DJ Premier. I still can't believe I have a track with Premier; it really is one of the best songs I've written in a long time. "

" I guess music is very global. "

" The best thing to do when you're writing is to write about something you know instead of pretending. I mean, you can do that too, obviously, but when you write from your heart, it works so much better. "

" 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. "

" Sometimes when you're a songwriter, you kind of have this egotistic thing: you just want to write something that you love, and you don't care about if people like it or not, but personally, I want to write something that people can jive to. "

" I've always been singing all my life, but I started playing guitar when I was 19, and that was my final year in university, in law school. I think that happened when I started making a lot of friends who were in the independent music scene. "

" For Eid - or Raya, as the Malaysians call it - we love to shop for new clothes for the festive season. There will be open houses to go to, and Malaysians love to look good for these. "

" If I get to a place early in the morning, I try to walk around by myself. I still try to find cool places to go to, like a record store in St. Louis or some restaurant in Chicago. "

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

" I like that I don't have to conform to the normal women-in-music-selling-sex-appeal thing. "

" I didn't expect to have music as my main thing. I always thought I was going to be a lawyer. When I graduated, I was doing really well with my music in Malaysia. I had stable income, and I had really good momentum in the music industry, so I had to make a decision whether to stop that and continue being a lawyer. "

" I come from a jazzy, acoustic, folky background. Everything has to work with melodies; the words have to have meaning. "

" I'm a huge 'SK-II' person. I'm their Malaysian spokesperson. But I truly love their products - it's not just something that I endorse. I always moisturize with the SK-II Essential Power Rich Cream. "

" There's a lot of buying power from the Middle East. Girls from Dubai want to be able to wear Asos, and you have people travelling all the way to the States just to go shopping. "

" Embrace the color of your skin and your own beauty. "

" I feel very honoured and humbled to have people think, 'If Yuna can break through, then why can't we?' It takes a lot of work, but I tell people to just have that focus. Always be humble and a learner, practice and do research. "

" I'm a Muslim. I don't try to hide it. I'm also a girl who loves music. "

" 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. "

" Feminism is universal. You can't just fight for one type of freedom or one type of female power. You know what? Muslim women want to cover up, and we have to fight for our right to do that, too. "

" For 'Chapters', I decided to let go of my insecurities, found myself some talented R&B producers, and worked with them. "

" I try to look at people like Adele and Norah Jones, who are very successful but don't have to deal with scandals. "

" I have a lot of friends who do EDM music; they had to tell me what a 'drop' was. "

" I don't really like the idea of putting myself in any category now... I think that people are looking for music that's real and honest and that they can relate to emotionally. "

" I write songs about love because, above all, love is the most human thing we have together. Feelings are a part of us every day. You feel things every day, no matter where you are. So that's what I write about. "

" 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.' "