Aryana Sayeed, one of Afghanistan’s most well known singers, braves death threats and endures scrutiny every time she returns to her birthplace to perform. She is not only a popular singer, but is also an advocate of women’s rights and a voice for the hardships that Afghan women undergo. Despite the threat to her life, she continuously returns to her country to inspire and encourage the women in Afghanistan and to share with them her music, a blend of pop and traditional songs. She has symbolically performed at the very same football field where women under Taliban rule, between 1996-2001, were executed as a measure to encourage women to continue hoping for a better future for their country, one where gender equality is the rule.
It is the feminist message in her songs that has catapulted Sayeed into the eye of controversy back home in Afghanistan, she explains. She describes the themes of her music as a balance between campaigning for the rights of Afghan Women and pure entertainment. She has dedicated her musical career to gender equality to Afghanistan by singing songs in Dari and Pashto that are accessible to people, despite their ethic identity. Her music videos such as “I Am A Woman” and “Champion” have garnered a million views and her song “Banoo Atash Nesheen” meaning “The Lady of the Land Fire” became the first ever Afghan music video to be featured on MTV’s Rebel Music Series and was featured on BBC World’s Impact.
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