BANA SETS THE RIPPLE EFFECT IN MOTION

Maisie Daniels
13 minutes ago
3 min read

Ending the year with a bang, BANA — the boundary-pushing pop artist effortlessly bridging her Kurdish heritage with contemporary global sounds — signs off 2025 with “Ripple Effect”, a slick, high-energy release that feels like a statement of intent as much as a celebration.

Hot on the heels of her intoxicating, dance-infused single “Air”, and a run of remixes from electronic heavyweights Meg Ward, Josh Parkinson and Ossie, “Ripple Effect” is polished but playful, grounded yet expansive — the perfect canvas for BANA’s smooth, self-assured vocals. With each release, the Kurdish multi-hyphenate continues to carve out her space within the UK pop landscape, pulling from the electronic underground while remaining deeply rooted in her own story.

That sense of intention runs through everything she does. When we caught up with BANA, she spoke about how instinctively the track connected with her from the start. Inspired by nature — and particularly the landscapes of Kurdistan — she’s someone who searches for meaning in the world around her. Hearing “Ripple Effect” sparked something immediate. “That’s always a good sign,” she tells me. “It means it moved me. It was so relatable that I had to sing it — thanks to the talented songwriters and producer.”

It’s this emotional intuition that has helped BANA resonate so widely across borders. Her viral Kurdish-language single “Birwa Nakem” earned direct support from TikTok’s Breakthrough Programme and continues to build momentum, clocking over 132 million views and 65,000 sound creations on TikTok alone, alongside more than 9.4 million views on YouTube. Few artists manage to navigate both regional and global audiences with such ease — fewer still do it this early on.

Visually, BANA is just as intentional. With her feet firmly planted in western fashion, she’s been styled by Kirsty Stewart (FLO, Zara Larsson), while her recent English-language video campaign introduced a sleeker, more sophisticated visual direction under stylist Lucy Bonner. For BANA, sound and imagery are inseparable. "It's important for a harmony to exist between visuals and sound as we all know and love.” she says.“It's the same as hearing colors or having the visuals downloaded to me anytime I hear a song or a sound.”

That instinct comes to life in the “Ripple Effect” video, where movement plays a central role in shaping the story. While dance hasn’t always been front and centre in her work, this release pushed her into new territory. "I might give off the extrovert vibe I am actually very shy in person.” Ripple Effect already is an upbeat song and the title has movement in it, so it would've been a shame if I didn't incorporate some sort of movement in the video. It definitely broke my shyness a little bit." she laughs.

Away from the studio, BANA is just as committed to impact as she is to artistry. She’s an active advocate for women’s rights in Kurdistan through her work with SEED Foundation, while also finding balance through fitness, fashion and wellness. It all feeds back into her creative world — a reflection of an artist who is fearless, diasporic and entirely her own.

At its core, “Ripple Effect” is about ownership — of emotion, of experience, of healing. BANA hopes listeners make the song theirs. “Ripples don’t have to be bad all the time,” she says. “You can ripple love, even after the most excruciating heartbreak of your life.”

Looking ahead, there’s a palpable sense of momentum. Graduating university, splitting time between Slemani Kurdistan, London and LA, and finally being able to go full speed as an artist is what excites her most. “I'm excited about all the songs I will be writing, and the ones I’ll be sharing with the world.”

As for her favourite F-word? She lands on one that feels fitting: Flow. “It’s the state I want to be in forever.”

It’s artists like BANA who embody what pop stardom looks like now — culturally rooted, creatively expansive, and using their platform for good. If “Ripple Effect” is anything to go by, 2026 is already shaping up to be hers.