A bolder Yuna goes ‘Rouge’

Red hot: Spotify featured Yuna

PETALING JAYA: Girl power to Yuna! She is off to a good start with the release of her latest album, Rouge.

Spotify, the leading streaming service, has picked the singer’s album to be featured on its giant billboard at Times Square in New York City.

“From KL to the WORLD. IT’S ROUGE DAY EVERYWHERE AND IT’S DEFINITELY ROUGE DAY IN TIMES SQUARE NYC!” the 32-year-old singer posted on Instagram over the weekend.

Close to 88,000 users have liked the post, including celebrities such as Anggun, SonaOne, Wany Hasrita and Puan Sri Tiara Jacquelina who congratulated Yuna.

Apart from the billboard advertisement, Spotify also featured Yuna in its “One Track Mind” series on Instagram.

In the one-minute video, the Los Angeles-based singer revealed that the one song that inspired one of the tracks on her new album is No Doubt’s Just A Girl.

“There’s a song that I wrote (on Rouge) that’s called Pink Youth, and it’s all about girl power. So, that’s my version of Just A Girl,” Yuna said.

Rouge is Yuna’s fourth international release which comprises 11 tracks, including a Malay number Tiada Akhir.

In an interview with billboard.com last week, the singer said she decided to name the album Rouge to reflect a bolder Yuna.

“I’ve always felt like red is such a bold colour and I felt like, ‘Oh, maybe it’s not for me.’ Even the colour, the lipstick colour is maybe not for me. That’s always been the person that I am.

“And now I feel like, you know what? I’m a little older, a little wiser now.

“I’m entitled to feel angry or passionate, sexy. I don’t want to hold anything back anymore,” she said.

Yuna added that it’s important for young girls, especially Muslims, to see a singer like her represented in the media.

“Representation is everything. And it empowers kids especially to kind of, you know, to feel like they can still practise whatever they love,” she told billboard.com.