Pop star Helen Abdulla, known as the Kurdish Shakira, released a new single, "Revolution," which is inspiring Iraqi Kurdish forces in their fight against Islamic State militants.
Abdulla's anti-Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) video has garnered more than 742,000 views on YouTube since its May 28 release.
"I want to give something to the peshmerga because I consider myself one of them," said Abdulla, according to the National. "The song is called 'Revolution,' and I call in it for Kurdistan and the countries of the world to unite to fight terrorism and injustice."
Twenty-six-year-old Abdulla, who uses the stage name Helly Luv, is based in Los Angeles, but was threatened last year after filming a video in the Iraqi capital of Erbil—and was included on ISIS' kill list. She again recieved death threats after the video release of "Revolution."
"I want to show the world who the peshmerga forces are, and who Daesh is," she said. Daesh is the Arabic equivalent for the Islamic State group.
The Kurdish singer filmed the music video near IS stronghold Mosul in Iraq, according to MailOnline. She is shown standing in front of a cannon and firing it at militants, and raising a "Stop the Violence" banner.
"We were in a little village called Khazer that was attacked by ISIS militants before and was abandoned. We were afraid to shoot [the video] as there were bombs left over and drove back at night because I thought it would be safer, but nothing was ever sure," said Abdulla, according to International Business Times.
The Kurdish singer was born in eastern Urmia, Iran, in 1988 to a family that originally came from Dohuk in Iraq, according to Daily Sabah. Her family was forced to leave Iran and lived in Finland after seeking asylum. She later moved to Los Angeles and began making headlines with last year's music video, "Risk It All."
