My dream has always been to inspire young girls to see their own power and follow big dreams and realize that they have potential.
When my mother told me they have to sell me, I couldn't breathe; I couldn't speak.
When I was a little girl, I did not listen to music much. I did not think that one day I would become a rapper. I was born in a very traditional and religious family. Being a female was destroying my dreams. Slowly, first through poetry and then music, I began to find ways to share my thoughts and feelings, talk to my family and to the world.
My friends, they get married at 15 years old. I saw them with bruises on their faces. I realized this is the real face of child marriage.
My platform for activism is my music, and the issue I am working to address is child marriage. Everyone can find an issue that they care about and their own authentic way of expressing and sharing their message and working for change. When you speak authentically about something that matters to you, your voice has even more power.
In order to see truly where I am and where I want to go, I need to remember where I once was.
Music reaches people in a way that simple spoken words just can't.
My parents tried to sell me. I was looking for a way to share my feelings, so I started to rap to talk about the painful experience of being a girl.
There is a great power in speaking your truth and standing for something important.
The biggest change of my life was coming to America.
I like Eminem's style, and Missy Elliott. I really like M.I.A.
Being a rapper as a woman is not a good thing in Afghanistan. I kind of put my life in danger whenever I go somewhere to talk about women's rights or make music, rap, or have interviews.
It was too hard to understand marrying someone I didn't know. When you don't like someone, if he touches you, it's harder than anything.
I saw my friends being beaten because they said no to child marriage.
A good girl in Afghanistan should be silent, should not talk about her future, should listen to your family, be like a doll so that everyone can play with her.
It means so much to me that my family went against our tradition for me.
When I was being sold into marriage, it was hard to see a future for myself.
I am an activist and rapper from Afghanistan, and I use rap to speak out and help end child marriage.
I want to go back to my country to help other girls. We need to support girls to see other possibilities for themselves, to have a vision for their own future.
There was no giving up. Trying and trying. That's what I'm all about.
