“I’m quite a coward,” Rahma Riad admitted with a laugh. “I mean, I like taking risks in general, but I avoid reckless ones when it comes to my music career.” It’s a surprisingly candid confession from ...

Kazem al-Sahir Iraq's most successful pop songs combine graphic accounts of violence and inter-Iraqi treachery with a wistful yearning for better days ahead. The songs are performed at concerts ...