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Once upon a time in Afghanistan,

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the Taliban band music.

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Radios were smashed, instruments

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burned, people buried their televisions

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and cassette tapes six feet under

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and for five years there was

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silence.

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But one man, Daoud Sadiki,

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refused to bow down. He risked

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his life to join an underground network

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of people smuggling music and movies

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around the country.

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Moving a VCR from one house

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to another house, moving a TV. It

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was kind of like you moving a track

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full of drugs.

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And when the Taliban regime finally

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found, Daoud helped kickstart

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a revolution, a

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revolution in the form of an Afghan

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version of American idol called

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Afghanistan.

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I was a celebrity of the country.

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Everywhere I was like on

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the skies.

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It was something new, like never

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before in the history of Afghanistan.

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There was performing between all

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the insecurities and all the

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explosions and all the disappointment.

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That was a light in the darkness.

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Asthma Bolajourn, asthmasoj

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Bolajourn.

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Over

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the next decade, Afghanstar

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taught millions of people how to vote.

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It bridged ethnic divide and

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became a platform for women

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to fight for equal rights. It

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was a symbol of the new Afghanistan.

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Freedom and freedom feels very

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good.

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It was a lightning rod.

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I think it was called Devil's Star by some

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people, and

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those people were hell bent on

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crushing the show and everything

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it stood for. If

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you asked the Taliban member, what

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would you change the most in Afghanistan,

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people would say Afghanistan.

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And they actually sat on this

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TV show that my head

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should be cut off. And

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whoever that cuts off my head and brings

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it to them, they'll go to heaven.

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So the Afghanistar team

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were faced with a choice, save

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their show and use pop culture

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to fight off the Taliban, or

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flee the country and save

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themselves.

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Add mysel John.

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John.

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We cannot let them win. We cannot

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let the darkness come over us again.

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We have to fight back. We have

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to fight back with music. That's

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how we can fight.

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I'm John Legend. Listen to Afghan

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Star on the iHeartRadio app, Apple

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podcast or wherever you get your podcasts

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La John for