KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — Award-winning Malaysian singer Yuna has reached a new career milestone after surpassing one billion streams across all credits on Spotify, becoming the first Malaysian artist to do so.
Speaking to local media, the 40-year-old singer said the achievement came as a surprise after she first learned about it through a fan page earlier this month.
“The news actually came from my fans who congratulated me and I was like, ‘Huh? Really?’ and it turns out to be true after we checked it.
“It’s not even a target (for me) and it came indirectly because I just want to make music for fun with friends and for myself — this is kind of a nice bonus for my career.
“And it is also for Malaysians too — I’m just grateful and happy to know that I have listeners who stream my materials,” she said.
Yuna added that the milestone proved independent artists could also achieve major success and said it marked the beginning of a new chapter in her career.
However, she declined to reveal details about her upcoming projects, saying she was taking things “day by day” for now.
Yuna against AI in music
The ‘Crush’ singer also spoke out against the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in music-making, saying it could affect local artists and songwriters who rely on such work for a living.
She said songs generated by AI still lacked the emotional depth and authenticity that come from human experience.
“So for me, the human touch is very important.
“The humanity in the song is also very important, so we try to avoid using all of that (AI) in our songs,” she said.
Yuna said she had experimented with AI music tools during her time in the United States when the technology first emerged, but was unimpressed with the results.
“I asked AI to write a song and it generated these bombastic words that even we don’t use in our daily conversations.
“It seems so over the top and a bit too desperate to make a song.
“As I said, it’s the human touch (that matters) because human touch all comes from God, no? So it’s all from experience, and only we have that,” she said.
She added that she was also concerned about the environmental impact of AI data centres.
Yuna’s comments came after she lent her vocals to Aizat Amdan’s latest single ‘Ajar Aku’, which also features local post-hardcore band Sekumpulan Orang Gila.
She said she agreed to join the track after hearing its demo, which included an AI-generated female version of Aizat’s vocals.
‘Amateur hour is over’
Aside from contributing vocals to the track, Yuna also handled the art direction for the music video, which was directed by her husband and longtime collaborator Adam Sinclair.
During the ‘Ajar Aku’ press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, Aizat revealed that Yuna was the one who pushed for a music video after recognising the song’s potential.
“I think when you are a songwriter and when you produce your song, sometimes you don’t realise the potential of the song yourself — you are often in doubt about your work.
“So you need someone else to come in and listen to your song and tell you that it has the potential.
“For me, I was that person for them,” Yuna said.
Yuna, who has worked with Aizat previously, said she also told the singer that “amateur hour is over” and encouraged him to fully commit to the project.
“Let’s move past the mindset of ‘just settle for this’ or ‘just use AI for that’.
“You have to give it your absolute all — you (already) have this platform and a community here supporting you, so keep pushing the boundaries,” she said.
Aizat Amdan’s ‘Ajar Aku’ featuring SOG and Yuna will be available on all music streaming platforms from May 15, while the official music video is set to premiere the same day at 9 pm.
