Yuna On Performing At This Year’s A2IM Libera Awards, Her Next Album, Coffee, Television & More

On June 17, 2021, the American Association of Independent Music — A2IM, for short — will once more bring the world together to honor the hard work and boundary-breaking vision of independent artists at the A2IM Libera Awards presented by Merlin and streaming exclusively on YouTube via A2IM’s official YouTube channel. This year’s Icon recipient will be soul and gospel icon Mavis Staples. Among this year’s scheduled performers are GRAMMY-nominated rock and soul duo Black Pumas, Grammy-winning hip-hop artist Lecrae, breakout British artist Arlo Parks, 3-time GRAMMY winner Fantastic Negrito, Malaysian singer-songwriter Yuna, and Canadian-Colombian singer Lido Pimienta.

Born in Kedah, Malaysia and raised primarily in Kuala Lumpur, aforementioned singer-songwriter Yuna now splits her time between Malaysia and Los Angeles. Yuna began writing songs and teaching herself to play guitar at age 14, and recorded her debut album in 2008, earning her 5 Malaysian Music Award nominations. Her U.S. debut EP Decorate featured production by Grammy-award winning producer Pharrell Williams. 2019’s Rouge is her latest full-length, a follow-up to 2016’s critically-acclaimed Chapters, which featured collaborations with Usher, Jhené Aiko and DJ Premier. Billboard included the album in its “Critics’ Picks” for “Best R&B Album,” the single “Crush” — featuring Usher — peaked at #3 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Chart, and numerous award nominations followed.

On May 27, 2021, I had the pleasure of speaking with Yuna via Zoom, as embedded below. We spoke about her upcoming performance at this year’s A2IM Libera Awards, plans for her next album, life during COVID-19, music, television, coffee and more. More on Yuna and her Libera Awards performance next month can be found by clicking here, here, here and here.

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Tags: A2IM, Fantastic Negrito, Libera Awards, Malaysia, Mavis Staples, Pharrell Williams, Yuna

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."