Naaz Mohammed (born 8 June 1998), known professionally as Naaz, is a Dutch-

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

singer. Born and raised in the Netherlands, she initially gained media attention after she auditioned for ''

Holland's Got Talent ''Holland's Got Talent'' (often referred to as HGT) is the Dutch version of the ''Got Talent'' series, which was created by Simon Cowell, who also created the series ''The X Factor''. The first season began broadcasting in March 2008 on SBS6. Th ...

'' in 2014.

Early life

Naaz Mohammed was born in

Gorinchem Gorinchem ( or ), also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of Oc ...

, but moved to Rotterdam when she was two. Her parents fled Iraq during the Gulf War; Naaz's father is a doctor, and her mother is his assistant. She was bullied in school but found comfort in the words of one of her teachers. A car accident in which her parents were wounded was a turning point in her life and that of her parents; before, music was a "no-go" for them and she had to abide by a strict dress code, but after the accident, the family was more open with and accepting of each other.

Career

2014-2018: Career beginnings, ''Bits of Naaz''

In 2014, Naaz took part in ''

''. On 13 November 2015, Naaz featured in Yellow Claw and

Flux Pavilion Joshua Steele (born 15 January 1989) better known by his stage name Flux Pavilion, is an English EDM producer, DJ, singer-songwriter and label owner who has been performing since 2008. Flux Pavilion has headlined three US tours, two UK tours, ...

's song, "Catch Me". On 30 September 2016, she released her first solo song, "Sadboy". Naaz created the songs on ''Bits of Naaz'' in her room, using a computer, a microphone, and a keyboard. She recorded most of the songs in the EP in December 2017. At the time, she wasn't allowed to go to the studio because her parents did not want her to take a career in music. Naaz later found a manager who persuaded her parents to let her continue a career as a musician. On 18 May 2017, Naaz released her debut single, "Words". A music video was released to accompany the song on June 8. On 18 August 2017, Naaz released her second single, "Can't". A music video for the song came out a week later. On 13 October 2017, she released her third single, "Up to Something". On 25 October 2017, Naaz performed "Words" on Vevo DSCVR. On 12 February 2018, Naaz released her fourth single, "Loving Love". The single entered the Dutch Singles Tip and peaked at #30. On 30 April 2018, Naaz released her debut EP, '' Bits of Naaz''. ''Bits of Naaz'' debuted and peaked at #81 in the Netherlands, and its success led to her to play at

Rock Werchter Rock Werchter is an annual music festival held in the village of Werchter, near Leuven, Belgium, since 1976 and is a large sized rock music festival. The 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012 and 2014 festivals received the Arthur award for ''best festiv ...

and various European countries; she received two

Edison Award The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed by ...

s for the EP. Naaz joined

Hayley Kiyoko Hayley Kiyoko Alcroft (born April 3, 1991) is an American singer, dancer and actress. As a child model and actress, she appeared in a variety of films including ''Scooby-Doo (film series), Scooby-Doo!'' film series (2009–2010), ''Lemonade Mouth ...

on her ''European Encore Tour''.

2019-present: ''The Beautiful Struggle'', current music

On 14 June 2019, Naaz released the first single, "TAPED", for her second EP, ''the beautiful struggle'', and the second single, "damage", in September 2019, which she said was a song about "emotionally damaged DNA". On 27 September 2019, Naaz released the song "it's not you it's me". On 4 October 2019, Naaz released her sophomore EP, ''the beautiful struggle.'' Naaz joined

Melanie Martinez Melanie Adele Martinez (born April 28, 1995) is an American singer and songwriter. Born in Astoria, Queens, and raised in Baldwin, New York, Martinez rose to fame in 2012 after appearing on the American television vocal talent show ''The Voice ...

on her K-12 tour in 2020. She went on her own headline tour promote her EP. On 10 July 2020, Naaz released the single "Mute Love". On 31 May 2022, Naaz released the single "Sad Violins", her first in two years.

Awards and nominations

Naaz has won two

Edison Awards Edison Awards is an American company that runs an annual competition honoring excellence in innovation in a broad range of categories. Company The Edison Awards were established by the American Marketing Association in 1987 and has been an i ...

, a Dutch music award, and was nominated in two categories of the XITE Awards in 2017. In January 2020, Naaz won two awards at the Music Moves Europe Talent Awards, a music awards ceremony funded by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

. Award winners received prizes of €10,000, with an additional €5,000 for the Public Choice award, which Naaz won.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

Other charted songs

Artistry

Naaz has listed

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Taking inspiration from aristocracy for her stage name, she is known for her unconventional musical styles and i ...

, and

Tove Lo Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson (born 29 October 1987), known professionally as Tove Lo (), is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She has been called "Sweden's darkest pop export" by ''Rolling Stone.'' She is known for her raw, grunge-influenced take o ...

as musical inspirations.

References

External links

*{{commons category-inline Dutch women singers Dutch people of Iraqi descent Kurdish women singers Kurdish singer-songwriters 1998 births Living people Dutch people of Kurdish descent