PERFORMING....
Zee Avi performing during the Rainforest World Music Festival in Kuching, July
13, 2012.
KUALA LUMPUR : Malaysian
singer-songwriter Zee Avi’s path to musical stardom began five years ago in her
bedroom with a second-hand guitar, a clunky old laptop and a YouTube account.
Her grainy, self-shot black
and white rendition of her song “Poppy” soon gained a following, and further
videos led to her discovery by Patrick Keeler of The Raconteurs and two albums
that charted on the American Billboard 200.
“It was my birthday and I
was out with friends for dinner. When I came back, I was like, ‘why are there
3,000 emails from YouTube?’” Zee, 26, said of her selection as the
video-sharing site’s featured artist for Christmas 2007.
She only posted “Poppy” for
the benefit of a friend who had missed her maiden public performance.
With a folk-soul sound
resembling early Norah Jones, US-based Zee, who comes from a Muslim family, is
among a wave of Malaysian women artists who have used social media to appeal
directly — and successfully — to fans.
This has not only helped
them gain popularity but has also given them more leverage when it comes to the
pressures and constraints faced by female singers and performers in their
predominantly Muslim country, they say.
Another rising star is Yuna,
a Muslim ethnic Malay whose soulful self-titled debut this year peaked at number
19 on Billboard magazine’s “Heatseekers” chart and has made some waves in the
US. She is now based in New York.
Yuna — who swaddles her hair
in a chic version of the Muslim hijab head covering worn by many Malay women —
gained “three fans, then 3,000, then 300,000” after uploading her first song on
Myspace in 2006.
Yet at home they face
criticism from religious authorities, online trolls and the mainstream media
over what they wear, who they date and where they go.
“Muslim females are
generally free to perform in small venues in the local scene. But once they
gain popularity, that’s when the problems start,” said Daryl Goh, senior music
writer for English language daily The Star.
“The moral police start
paying attention”.
‘Walking a tightrope’
Malaysia bars hugging,
kissing, jumping, and foul language by performers on stage. It also prohibits
women from baring skin between their shoulders and knees.
Female stars often elicit
attacks that they are promoting free sex and alcoholism — and in the case of
Malay Muslim artistes, that they are degrading the community. Male stars rarely
face such accusations.
Authorities fined American
female group Pussycat Dolls RM10,000 for “gross indecency” following a
performance in 2006.
R&B superstar Beyonce
Knowles twice cancelled shows in Malaysia amid protests over her “sexy” image
while American singer Erykah Badu had a concert cancelled in February over a
photo of the Arabic word for “Allah” painted on her body.
Malaysian dance-pop artist
Mizz Nina, who has a more overtly sexual style than Yuna or Zee Avi, released a
debut single “What You Waiting For” in 2010 that has been viewed nearly four
million times on YouTube.
Her songs also have been
downloaded half a million times as phone ring tones, reflecting a more
tech-savvy fan base in a country where Internet use — especially Facebook — is
heavy.
But Nina, 32, who released a
suggestive video for “What You Waiting For” that also featured US singer Colby
O’Donis, told AFP she was taken aback by abuse on her Facebook page accusing
her of “degrading Malay women”.
Nina, a Malay whose real
name is Shazrina Azman, says she must walk a tightrope — between the “sex
sells” approach that finds success overseas and “limitations to what you can do
as a Muslim”.
“The director said, ‘Nina I
want some scenes where you’ve got the dancers grinding and getting dirty with
each other’,” she said of a recent music video shoot.
“They can, but 100 per cent
it’ll be banned and they will say ‘Nina is promoting sex on the dance floor’.
That’s where we have to be more creative,” she added.
Breaking stereotypes
Zee and Yuna dress more
conservatively and grasp guitars rather than men on stage and in video but have
also come under criticism.
As Zee’s career took off,
she was chosen last year as a youth ambassador of her home state of Sarawak on
Borneo island but she was accused of denying her roots when she spoke only
English in a 2010 promotional visit to Kuala Lumpur.
Nevertheless, “this generation
is definitely breaking stereotypes and as far as possible, the government has
been very supportive as seen with the recognition Zee Avi has in Sarawak”, said
Goh.
Zee said social media had
given more power to the artist to decide “what to do and how to dress”.
With Yuna’s hijab framing
her fashion-model looks, many young women look to her as a more conservative
role model, someone who has deftly balanced success, both at home and abroad,
with a Muslim image.
“She’s done everything
right,” said Goh of the 25-year-old, whose full name is Yunalis Zarai.
But even she — the Malaysian
face of global giants Oil of Olay, Samsung and Canon — says that her choice of
a life in show business has seen her commitment to Islam questioned.
“I’m not Mizz Nina. I’m
covered head to toe but still they say bad things about me. They say I’m a
disgrace,” she said.
Yuna said that her use of
social media such as Twitter or YouTube helped give her enough independence to
have “this racehorse view — just shut everything out and go towards your goal
and success”.
“It’s amazing what social
media can do to your music and art if you know how to use it, have the right
platform and what you want to sell.
“Whatever happens after
that, you know, Grammys, an award, would be nice,” she said laughing. (AFP/Relaxnews)
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