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The Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah in Iraq has long been known as a center of culture and art, but western audiences might soon know it as the hometown of pop and R&B singer BANA. 

Now based in London, the artist first drew acclaim at home for her Kurdish singing. The release of her first English language single, however, is earning her attention around the globe. 

“I come from a very normal family and I’ve always been super alone in my own world and not socializing much, therefore I grew a love for music and pop music and art in every form since I was a little girl,” BANA says. “I taught myself how to sing professionally and how to play the guitar through YouTube videos, and through that I learned how to speak in English. The English I know today is because of songs and music.”

BANA has released nearly a dozen singles, and an 11-song album, since 2019, but her latest single, “Tangy,” is the first in English. 

Inspired by artists like Adele, Sam Smith, Ariana Grande, Beyoncé, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, BANA got an opportunity to appear on the Kurd Idol singing competition when she was 16 years old. 

“The judges, when I sang in English for them, they liked it but immediately asked for a Kurdish song,” she says. “Five minutes before that I was like, ‘What if they’re going to ask me for a Kurdish song, what the heck am I going to do?’ So I searched on YouTube, memorized a Kurdish song and sang it to them.”

Fans were hooked, and BANA spent the next several years building a career as a Kurdish singer, telling herself that when the time was right she’d once again pursue singing in English. 

“After five or six years and having an album and many singles, I felt like it was time for me to get out of there,” she says. “It was not fulfilling enough for myself and the little girl in me that wanted to be a pop star.”

So BANA moved to London, connected with a songwriter and producer who worked with One Direction and Sam Smith and then spent 2022 writing 20 songs in English covering multiple genres. 

“I have some Kurdish mixed into some of the tracks but it’s mainly English and I’ve made them for the western market,” she says. “I can’t wait for the world to hear it.”

“Tangy” is the first taste of the new music, with a full album due out next year. The single was inspired by a past relationship, with BANA channeling the anger she hasn’t overcome. 

“People often do you wrong and you can move on from it, celebrate it and call them out for it as well,” she says. “Sometimes we stay silent just to be nice and sometimes we shouldn’t. When somebody does you wrong, sometimes you have to confront them about it.”

I’m that girl that you really wish you had back, she sings on the song. I did things and I know you won’t forget that. You lost a diamond ‘cuz you didn’t have a clue, facts. You silly rabbit, playboy, you a new Jack.

And that taste left in his mouth? They call it tangy, BANA sings. 

An upcoming music video for the song was shot in Kurdistan, London and the U.S. And a remix has already been released that features the work of Jay1, a British rapper and songwriter, and American rapper Erica Banks. 

BANA will showcase her genre-blending skills on her next release, which is a mashup of pop and drill music and will be called “WYD.”

“That’s something that not many people dare to touch but I like a challenge and I like to challenge genres,” she says. “We have drum and bass, R&B, house music and more. Drill and pop is a very interesting mixture but surprisingly enough it works and I like it. I hope the world likes it, too.”

And BANA still incorporates her Kurdish roots in her music, including “WYD.” The song will feature an instrument similar to a flute called a balaban. 

“We’ve incorporated it in the song and in the music video,” she says. “I wanted to do something that symbolized my culture and throw in sprinkles of where I come from and what is important to me and my roots.”