Kurdish singer Naaz makes it to New York Times Square
A picture of the Kurdish singer Naaz shown on a billboard in Times Square in New York City. Photo: Naaz via Twitter
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The picture of the Dutch-Kurdish singer and songwriter Naaz Mohammad, known as Naaz, was shown on a billboard in Times Square in New York City on Friday, after she was picked by Spotify to be their ‘EQUAL artist’ for this month, according to Kurdistan 24.
Spotify, the large Swedish audio streaming and media services provider, launched a new initiative in March 2021 highlighting the women creators on a platform called EQUAL.
“Spotify approached me to become their EQUAL artist for this month. This is a beautiful campaign where they highlight women artists they love and support,” Mohammad told Kurdistan 24.
“I thought it was incredible they picked my Kurdish song ‘Azadî’ for this campaign. They showcased a picture of me on a billboard in Times Square,” Mohammad said.
“I just released my first Kurdish song ‘Azadî’, I have never had so much response to a song as I have on that one. I definitely want to write one more Kurdish song for my album,” she added to Kurdistan 24.
Naaz said earlier she had to convince her parents to let her become a musician, since they wanted her to focus on school. “I did not have a lot of freedom to, you know, be young and a teenager and go out,” Naaz said, according to NPR.
Naaz created the songs on her first record using the basic set-up in her room: A Yamaha keyboard, a microphone and her laptop, NPR mentioned.
In the beginning, she wasn’t allowed to go to the recording studio in Amsterdam without her brother by her side. Then, she found Kurdish manager Arjan Bedawi, and that is what really helped get her parents on board, NPR explained.
“I thought maybe a person like me, with the same cultural background, can persuade her parents to give her some more privileges, and let them know that, as long as I’m there, nothing weird is going to happen,” Bedawi said, according to NPR.