Whether one chooses to think of her as a Kurdish Vera Lynn - sweetheart of the Peshmerga forces - or as a Middle-Eastern Shakira shaking her booty in the face of the Islamic State, the case of Helan Abdulla or, as she is better known, Helly Luv, is one that raises some problematic issues.
Let me first say this: the 26 year-old actress, singer and dancer displays real courage in the face of mortal danger. For this, she deserves our respect. Miss Abdulla is a beautiful young woman prepared to risk life and limb in order to achieve chart success and a film career. And she's someone who has experienced hard times; born in Iran during the Gulf War, she and her family were forced to flee first to Turkey before then seeking asylum in Finland where they were eventually granted citizenship.
At eighteen, Miss Abdulla moved to LA in order to pursue her dream of stardom. One thing led to another, and, in 2013, she released a single under the name of Helly Luv. Risk It All synthesized Latin and Middle-Eastern rhythms into a catchy contemporary dance track that highlighted the plight of the Kurdish people. The song and accompanying video garnered a good deal of critical attention and millions of YouTube views. It also - predictably - brought death threats her way from Islamic militants.
Rather than back down in the face of these threats, however, Miss Abdulla released a follow-up single in 2015 entitled Revolution for which a still more controversial video was shot in an abandoned village near Mosul, where Kurdish militia were engaged in combat with IS fighters. In the video, Helly Luv is seen painting the word 'revolution' on a shell in red lipstick before personally firing it towards the IS front line just a few kilometres away.
I suppose it's this kind of thing that ultimately causes me problems. For the packaging of warfare inside a slick and glossy music video undoubtedly glamourises violence and has something worryingly fascistic about it. I'm perfectly happy for performers to express political views (even if such views are often naive and misguided), but I don't really want to see them posing with petrol bombs and surrounded by dancers carrying AK-47 automatic rifles.
Nor even, for that matter, do I want to see wild animals being exploited; so please, Helly, no more lions ...
Notes:
To watch the video for Risk It All click here.
To watch the video for Revolution click here.
To visit the Helly Luv official site click here.
Let me first say this: the 26 year-old actress, singer and dancer displays real courage in the face of mortal danger. For this, she deserves our respect. Miss Abdulla is a beautiful young woman prepared to risk life and limb in order to achieve chart success and a film career. And she's someone who has experienced hard times; born in Iran during the Gulf War, she and her family were forced to flee first to Turkey before then seeking asylum in Finland where they were eventually granted citizenship.
At eighteen, Miss Abdulla moved to LA in order to pursue her dream of stardom. One thing led to another, and, in 2013, she released a single under the name of Helly Luv. Risk It All synthesized Latin and Middle-Eastern rhythms into a catchy contemporary dance track that highlighted the plight of the Kurdish people. The song and accompanying video garnered a good deal of critical attention and millions of YouTube views. It also - predictably - brought death threats her way from Islamic militants.
Rather than back down in the face of these threats, however, Miss Abdulla released a follow-up single in 2015 entitled Revolution for which a still more controversial video was shot in an abandoned village near Mosul, where Kurdish militia were engaged in combat with IS fighters. In the video, Helly Luv is seen painting the word 'revolution' on a shell in red lipstick before personally firing it towards the IS front line just a few kilometres away.
I suppose it's this kind of thing that ultimately causes me problems. For the packaging of warfare inside a slick and glossy music video undoubtedly glamourises violence and has something worryingly fascistic about it. I'm perfectly happy for performers to express political views (even if such views are often naive and misguided), but I don't really want to see them posing with petrol bombs and surrounded by dancers carrying AK-47 automatic rifles.
Nor even, for that matter, do I want to see wild animals being exploited; so please, Helly, no more lions ...
Notes:
To watch the video for Risk It All click here.
To watch the video for Revolution click here.
To visit the Helly Luv official site click here.
