Dashni Morad is a Kurdish singer, songwriter, television presenter, human rights & environmental activist. Born in Kurdistan, she moved to Holland as a refugee with her family in 1997. She rose to prominence in 2005 through her television show, “Bê Kontrol“, which was the first of its kind in the Kurdistan Region to explore Western culture candidly. Many people in the Kurdistan Region, particularly the youth, consider Dashni to have broken down cultural and traditional barriers for young women.

In 2009, Dashni began her musical career with the release of her first album, “Hela Hupa“, she further released two other albums, “Hom Shika Wawa” and “Frishtay Mihreban“, and a series of singles, before taking time off from her musical career in 2014 to pursue her humanitarian and environmentalist projects. She founded “Green Kids” in 2012, which is a charity focused on underprivileged children, in particular refugee children, as well as the environment.

She is also a prominent campaigner for women’s rights and is seen as an inspirational feminist figure to many young women in the Kurdistan Region. She was one of the first Kurdish female artists to appear as a pop singer and dancer and opened the gate for other Kurdish girls to become successful singers just like her.

Dashni released her first English single, “Open Your Eyes“, which was not only a hit in the Kurdistan Region, but also the wider Iraq, Lebanon and Holland. In Holland, “Open Your Eyes” was number one for six weeks on FunX Radio’s XCHART. Dashni was relieved that she was finally able to make the type of music that she wanted. Later that year, in solidarity with the Syrian people, Dashni recorded the song “Power of Love”.

In 2013, Dashni and fellow artist Karwan Kamil were awarded a Golden Record for the Best Music Award 2013 by the Institute of Music in Duhok for their single “Binaz“. Later that same year, Dashni collaborated with the Kurdish musical trio Le Dinê, to release the single “Take Me Home“.