For Helly Luv, music is not just a form of escape--it also holds the potential to inspire and galvanize, to serve as a rallying cry, to help win wars against evil. 

Many musicians aren't thinking on this level when they write lyrics or craft music, but Helly Luv has a unique background that charges her passion for justice. 

She's Kurdish, and the Kurds' Iraqi fighting force--the Pesh Merga--are on the frontlines of the war against terrorist group ISIS. 

Luv's father once fought for the Pesh Merga and now she's carrying on his fervor.

Her breakout single, "Revolution," was inspired by a visit to a village near Mosul, the site of one of the most significant defeats and then victories against ISIS in the past few years.

During her visit, she spent time with Pesh Merga fighters and fired a shell at ISIS positions.

She also filmed her music video while here, which is a direct affront to ISIS' regressive and hateful ideology. The video shows Luv dancing around, in full control of her body, a woman empowered to do whatever she wants.

"Revolution" has been viewed millions of times and has drawn the scorn of ISIS--a response that Luv welcomes. 

As she told NBC, "As an artist my weapon is not guns, my weapon is my music. If I can fight against them with my music, then my song is as powerful as or more powerful than their weapons."

This song was partly inspired by a visit to the Kurdish town Erbil following the arrival of Yazidi refugees who had fled genocide at the hands of ISIS. 

She was there to sing another anthem against that murderous gang called "Risk it All." 

The war in Syria and Iraq has raged for more than 5 years, as much as the world has stood idly by. 

Helly Luv knows that news reports can numb people with their bald descriptions of suffering and that few people will go out of their way to learn about atrocities. 

So her songs act as an entry point for outsiders who might otherwise block out the tragedy and a rallying cry for those in entrenched in it.