Iconic singer Ahmet Kaya was beloved in his home country of Türkiye, even though he was banished by the government near the end of his career for daring to sing a song in Kurdish. But even in the face of a repressive Turkish state, Kaya remained one of the most outspoken pop stars throughout his life. Couched in the elegant tradition of Azerbaijani music, Kaya's deep, resonant voice sang of social matters in metaphors as seemingly innocuous as sand, his message building until it became as elegant as a pearl.