- Title: IRAQ-SINGER/HELLY LUV Kurdish pop star rails against Islamic State in new video
- Date: 12th August 2015
- Summary: ERBIL, IRAQ (AUGUST 9, 2015) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) KURDISH SINGER, HELLY LUV, SAYING: "Well we were actually 2.5 kilometres away from ISIS. And everyday going to the location, we just had to pray that we will come back safely because some days we were there shooting and the cameraman would just say action and right away you would just see bullets flying. And Peshmerga would tell us to go, 'Go. you need to leave, it is too dangerous'." LUV SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) KURDISH SINGER, HELLY LUV, SAYING: "I'm not fighting physically in the war. And am not saying that music can physically fight against ISIS. But I can say this that music can send the message of what is going on and it can speak for millions of people whose voice has been shut. Music is powerful. Music might not be as loud as weapon but it will live for ever. And I believe that ISIS will not live forever."
- Embargoed: 27th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Iraq
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVACAQGYW92UY2FK4FZKAHP2FBOC
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Standing atop a tank, Kurdish pop singer Helly Luv urges people to stand up in her new song "Revolution".
Luv, 26, whose real name is Helan Abdulla, says her latest single was inspired by Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State.
""Revolution" was inspired by the real events happening here. I was in Kurdistan and I saw how normal people, they would just get up and take any kind of weapon and go to the battlefield and fight against this powerful, dangerous, terrorist group in the whole world. And that inspired me because these are just regular people, they are not army trained so I felt like I wanted to take a part in the fight as well. But I feel as artist my weapon is not the weapon, my weapon is my music," Luv said.
The video was filmed on the frontline of Kurdish 'peshmerga' fighters battling Islamic State militants in Khazer area, in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Dohuk.
"Well we were actually 2.5 kilometres away from ISIS (Islamic State). And everyday going to the location, we just had to pray that we will come back safely because some days we were there shooting and the cameraman would just say action and right away you would just see bullets flying. And Peshmerga would tell us to go, 'Go. you need to leave, it is too dangerous'," said Luv.
The singer said music can be a powerful tool against violence.
"I'm not fighting physically in the war. And am not saying that music can physically fight against ISIS. But I can say this that music can send the message of what is going on and it can speak for millions of people whose voice has been shut. Music is powerful. Music might not be as loud as weapon but it will live for ever. And I believe that ISIS will not live forever," Luv said.
Luv was born in Iran to Kurdish parents fleeing Iraq. Her mother was a peshmerga fighter before the family emigrated during the Iran-Iraq War.
As a baby, Luv spent nine months in a refugee camp in Turkey before her family emigrated to Finland. She moved to Los Angeles at 18 to pursue a music career and after struggling for several years was picked up by LA-based independent label G2 Music.
Luv now divides her time between the Kurdish city of Erbil and Los Angeles.
Her first video was filmed in Erbil and featured Kurdish refugees fleeing civil war in Syria. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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