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In a move that is sure to generate some feelings of envy among the likes of C. Delores Tucker and Tipper Gore, Iran announced last week that it will begin cracking down on hip hop. At first glance, the announcement would not seem to be all that different from the periodic calls to ban the music in our own country. The difference, however, is that Iran's judicial system is based on the Sharia, the Islamic code of laws that has been used to justify such punishments as sentencing a victim of gang rape to 200 lashes plus jail time, death by stoning for adultery and amputation for petty larceny. So when an Iranian official says that, "illegal studios producing this type of music will be sealed and the singers in this genre will be confronted," there's a very real possibility that Iranian artists may soon be facing the wrath of the religious police, a prospect that would strike fear into the hearts of even the hardest of gangsta rappers.
One of the great things about the internet is that it is almost impossible to censor anything once it gets onto the world wide web. While the artists in Iran may end up eventually paying the price for expressing themselves, I suspect the music itself will see an increase in popularity in the country the more that its government attempts to suppress it. Already a thriving underground hip hop scene exists in the "021", the area-code of Tehran that also serves as the city's nickname. The scene developed soon after rapper Hich-Kas released his album Jangale Asfalt, which is considered to be the first Iranian rap album. This underground movement has been bolstered in large part by the rise of MySpace and Youtube, which has allowed many of the artists to release their music anonymously and with less risk of reprisal from the government.
For today, I thought I would do my part to spread some of the music coming out of Iran and put up a few Persian rap songs. I did some searching on the internet and got a chance to listen to what is currently considered to be the best that Iranian hip hop has to offer. I have to admit it's unlikely that any of the music released so far, the majority of which is in Farsi with a small amount of American slang mixed in, will catch on in the Western world. Most of the beats seem to be an odd mix of American hip hop, Euro club and traditional Persion music. The lyrics, which primarily focus on speaking out against the policies of Iran and the U.S., can be hard to listen to for ears that are not used to hearing the language (Farsi sounds so different from any Western language, it's unlikely you will ever see a cross-culture hit like the French and Americans had with Guru and MC Solaar on Oui ou Non/The Good The Bad).
The music right now is clearly in its infancy, and the beats on the most popular singles are, at best, derivative of hip hop from other countries. I checked out some of the upcoming producers on MySpace, however, and there seems to be a growing movement to sample more from the country's own traditional music. The move seems to be toward creating a sound not unlike what can be heard on Truth Hurts and Rakim's Addictive, only a lot more authentic. Given the political climate over there, it is perhaps not too surprising that the most popular hip hop artists from Iran have moved out of the country, with Denmark seemingly the most popular destination for the ex-pats.
Here are a few songs from what are generally considered to be the top three Iranian hip hop acts. Chances are you won't understand a word that they're saying (and since the online Persian-to-English dictionaries are worthless, you won't be getting any translations out of me), but at least now you can say you've heard some Iranian hip hop:
Deev - Dasta Bala
Zed Bazi - Bi Hess (To give you some sense of the popularity of the musc, according to Zed Bazi's promoter, this track has been downloaded over "8 million times" in the past year)
Yas - Be Omide Iran (youtube video)
For more music from virtually every major Iranian rapper (including those featured above), along with updated information on the ongoing situation in Iran, stop by the MySpace page for the Persian Rap All Stars. For even more Persian rap, you can download free music over at persianhiphop.com.
12/2/2007 08:00:01 PM posted by Fresh