Informally starting her musical career with demos uploaded to SoundCloud in 2014,[4] Yanya turned down an offer to join a girl group produced by Louis TomlinsonofOne Direction and focused on developing her own music instead.[3] She has spoken out against this model of talent acquisition, telling The Guardian: "'Let's go and pinch some young people, tell them we're going to make a really successful group but we're obviously going to make a lot more money than them.' It's a very selfish thing to do."[5] The project was reportedly abandoned after a year.[5]
Her first EP, Small Crimes/Keep on Calling, was released in 2016. Her second EP, Plant Feed, was released in 2017,[6] followed by Do You Like Pain? in 2018. All three EPs were later compiled into the EP Inside Out in 2021.
In 2019, Yanya released her debut studio album, Miss Universe, which received rave reviews and critical acclaim,[3][4][7] with critics noting her ability to bounce back and forth between musical and lyrical styles, shifting between "gimlet-eyed composure and cataclysmic panic".[8] Yanya's music has been described as nervous and restless, combining influences from indie rocktosoul, jazz, and trip hop.[3][6]AStereogum review called her voice "malleable and endlessly expressive."[9]
In 1-2 July 2022, Yanya performed before Adele's first live UK concert after five years, in Hyde Park.[10] Later that year, Yanya was the UK opening act for rock band Roxy Music, who reformed in 2022 for a 50th anniversary tour.[11]
She likes to involve her family in her career, with her younger sister Elif sometimes performing with her as a backing singer and her elder sister Molly directing her music videos.[5]
Yanya stated in a Turkish interview that her mother lived in Turkey with her father when they were expecting her, and she often heard the Turkish pop singer Nilüfer's name on the radio. She loved the name so much that she said, "If I have a daughter, I will name her Nilüfer."[14]
