Many Kurdish singers of the diaspora generation grew up between two worlds: Kurdish at home, a European language at school. Few turned that into a career as successfully as Chopy Fatah. Born in Kirkuk and raised in the Netherlands, she trained in European music schools and at a Kurdish music academy, and since the early 2000s she has become one of the best-known women in Kurdish pop.
This biography covers her early life, her six albums, the songs people search for most, and why her ability to sing in both Sorani and Kurmanji matters in a divided musical landscape.
Chopy Fatah: quick facts
- Full name: Chopy Shakir Fatah (چۆپی شاکر فەتاح)
- Born: 10 June 1983, Kirkuk, Kurdistan Region of Iraq
- Status: living
- Raised in: the Netherlands, where her family emigrated in the late 1980s
- Genre: Kurdish pop, folk and world music
- Languages: mainly Sorani, also Kurmanji; three English-language songs
- Active: since 2000
- Albums: six, from Çît Naw Binêm (2003) to Bnar (2017)
- Also known for: presenting television on Rudaw and her fashion label, Chopy Designs, in Erbil
Early life: from Kirkuk to the Netherlands
Chopy Fatah was born on 10 June 1983 in Kirkuk. Her family left Iraq for the Netherlands when she was a small child, in the late 1980s, a period of war and repression for Kurds in Iraq. (English Wikipedia gives 1988; Sorani Wikipedia says she was three.)
She started music early and in a structured way. At about seven she joined a children's choir. At thirteen she began studying at a music school in the Netherlands, and she also spent a year learning keyboard. At sixteen, in 1999, she trained at a Kurdish music academy in Germany.
That combination, European music training plus Kurdish vocal tradition learned in the diaspora, explains a lot about her sound. Her records are produced with the polish of European pop, but the melodies and ornaments come from Kurdish song.
Career: from Çît Naw Binêm to Bnar
Chopy's first stage performances date from 2000, and her debut album, Çît Naw Binêm? ("What Should I Call It?"), followed in the early 2000s. (Most sources give 2003; Sorani Wikipedia gives 2004.) It introduced her to Kurdish audiences in Europe and in the Kurdistan Region.
Her second album, Nawit Denêm Jino (2007), was a breakthrough. It includes several of her best-known songs, among them Da Bro, Hêdî Hêdî and Bimbexşe.
Three albums followed in quick succession:
- Crystal (2010)
- Şara (2011). Sorani Wikipedia describes it as an album in the style of the Kurdish maqam, a sign of her interest in the classical side of Kurdish music.
- Baran (2012), "Rain", a more pop-rock record sung in Sorani.
Her sixth album, Bnar, came out in 2017. It includes her song Pêşmerge.
Alongside her Kurdish work, she recorded three songs in English, Think of Me, Draw the Line and My Homeland, aimed at a wider audience.
Chopy has performed widely across Europe and North America and, according to Rudaw, in countries including Germany, Sweden, the UK, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Greece, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ukraine and the UAE. She has also worked in television as a presenter on Rudaw. In 2018 she opened a clothing boutique, Chopy Designs, in Erbil, drawing on traditional Kurdish dress. "I want to be known as Chopy," she told Rudaw at the time. "I will never quit art."
Singing through the war against ISIS
When the war against ISIS reached the edges of the Kurdistan Region in 2014 and 2015, many Kurdish artists visited Peshmerga positions on the front line. In a 2015 interview with Rudaw, Chopy explained that she had chosen not to. She said she did not want to become a burden on the fighters, and that she would support them through her songs instead.
At the time she was preparing two new music videos, filmed in Germiyan and in Kirkuk, one of them about the Peshmerga. She also told Rudaw that the lyrics of one of these new songs were written by her father, and that she had composed the music herself. It is a small detail, but it says something about how Kurdish song is still often made: inside families, passed between generations.
That period also explains why Pêşmerge and Kerkuk are among her most searched songs today. For many listeners they are tied to the memory of those years.
Television and later work
Chopy is also a familiar face on screen. On Rudaw TV she presented Çopî û Çare ("Chopy and a Solution"). Her public image as a singer, presenter and, later, designer has made her one of the most recognisable Kurdish women in the media of the Kurdistan Region.
She has continued to release singles on her own channels. In April 2024, for example, Kurdistan24 reported the release of Jwantirîn Çaw ("The Most Beautiful Eyes"), a festive song that, according to the report, draws on folk material and features many young singers and dancers. She described it as a gift to her audience.
In 2017 she married Chato Fado. Sorani Wikipedia notes that the couple have two daughters.
Signature works
- ***Nawit Denêm Jino* (2007).** Her breakthrough album and the best place to hear her early style.
- ***Şara* (2011).** Her turn towards Kurdish maqam.
- ***Bnar* (2017).** Her most recent studio album, including Pêşmerge.
- ***Kerkuk*.** A song for her birthplace, and one of her most searched titles.
Chopy Fatah's best songs
These are the titles people search for most, in English and Sorani. Sorani script is in brackets.
- Kerkuk (کەرکوک). Her song for her home city.
- Legel Xem (لەگەڵ خەم). "With Sorrow", a song about living with grief.
- Pêşmerge (پێشمەرگە). From Bnar (2017).
- Da Bro (دە بڕۆ). "Go On, Leave", from Nawit Denêm Jino.
- Hêdî Hêdî (هێدی هێدی). "Slowly, Slowly", also from Nawit Denêm Jino.
- Baran Baran (باران باران). One of her most translated songs online.
- Sultan (سوڵتان). A Kurmanji song, and one of her most searched titles in English.
- Grftar (گرفتار). "Captive", a Sorani song from her catalogue.
Legacy
Chopy Fatah is still active, so "legacy" is an early word. But some parts of her contribution are already clear.
She is a bridge between dialects. Kurdish music is divided along dialect lines. Most Sorani singers are little known in Kurmanji-speaking regions, and the other way round. Chopy is one of the few who sing both, which, as English Wikipedia notes, is why she is known across different parts of Kurdistan. We look at that divide in our article on Sorani and Kurmanji music traditions.
She is a model of the diaspora-trained artist. She learned Kurdish song outside Kurdistan and then took it back. That path, from a European childhood to the stages of Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, is increasingly common, and our article on Kurdish diaspora music looks at it in more detail.
She is a visible woman in Kurdish pop. In a music scene where women have often faced social pressure, she has built a long, public career as a singer, presenter and businesswoman. She belongs to a generation of diaspora-raised women in Kurdish pop that also includes Dashni Morad, who likewise grew up in the Netherlands, and Helly Luv, raised in Finland.
The Kurdish connection
- Kirkuk. Her birthplace is one of the most contested cities in Kurdish history, and her song Kerkuk has a special place for Kurdish listeners.
- Two dialects. She records in Sorani and Kurmanji. The Kurdish-speaking world also includes Hawrami and Zazaki, each with its own song tradition, which we cover in Hawrami and Zazaki music traditions.
- Maqam. With Şara she turned to the Kurdish maqam. If you want to understand what that means, our page on maqam Kurd and our beginner's guide, what is a maqam?, are good starting points.
Her voice and style
What makes Chopy Fatah's sound recognisable? Listening across her albums, a few things stand out:
- A clear, bright voice that sits comfortably with modern production, from acoustic ballads to pop-rock on Baran.
- Kurdish ornamentation on top of pop arrangements. Even in her most produced songs, the small turns and slides of Kurdish singing are there.
- Range of repertoire. Love songs, patriotic songs, folk-based dance songs and, on Şara, maqam-based material sit side by side.
- Language as a choice. Switching between Sorani and Kurmanji, and occasionally English, is part of her identity as an artist, not a gimmick.
For learners, her songs are a good way into Kurdish vocal ornament, because the arrangements are clear and the melody is always at the front of the mix.
Where to start listening
- First song: Kerkuk.
- First album: Nawit Denêm Jino (2007), with Da Bro and Hêdî Hêdî.
- For her Kurmanji side: Sultan.
- For her classical side: Şara (2011).
- Next: another singer of Kurdish national song, Hama Jaza; read his full biography.
Chopy Fatah's music shows how Kurdish song keeps renewing itself in new places. Visit Chopy Fatah's artist page for a short profile, and if her songs make you want to play Kurdish melodies yourself, explore the Sorani and Kurmanji notation in our library.