Blog Posts From Iran's Metal and Hip Hop Artists: Is Music the Weapon of the Future in Iran?

 

by Mark Levine

Please note: I'm updating this post as I get new emails/tweets/calls from artists in Iran, so keep checking for new material.

Despite a general ban on most forms of popular music by the Islamic government in Iran, rock music has become one of the most vibrant forces for critiquing the various ills of Iranian society, and the basic ideology of the Islamic Republic as well.

When I last visited Iran I was amazed at how vibrant, and how courageous, the heavy metal and Hip Hop scenes had become. Long before the current violence, metalheads were willing to risk arrest, forced haircuts in jail, beatings and even threats to their families in order to pursue the music they love. The loose clothing and short hair favored by hip hoppers have made them a less obvious target for regime thugs and morality police; but both extreme metal artists and hip hoppers in Iran have been arrested for the politically and socially charged nature of their music, which circulated throughout the internet despite the best attempts of the government to stop it.

Music, and artistic expression more broadly, has always been a core part of Persian culture. While music has yet to play a public role in the protests similar to the role of artists in the Beirut Spring of 2006, they are working behind the scenes, using their art as a way to write about the experiences of the last week, and to describe a vision for a better future.

I have been in contact with some of the most innovative and talented artists in Iran over the last few days. Below are some of the emails they've sent me describing what they've been experiencing. I've changed the names to protect their identities, but to quote one rapper about the his use of Tupac Shakur's lyrics, "Those who know, will get it..."

The great Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti titled his last album "Music is the Weapon of the Future." In the current protests in Iran, it is bubbling under the surface, and will help shape the way the still young Revolution will develop now, and be remembered later. For more information about Iranian metal and hip hop artists, including links to their videos and music from the forthcoming EMI album Flowers in the Desert, please visit here . I have uploaded the galley from the chapter of Heavy Metal Islam dealing with Iran here to help contextualize the situation in Iran vis-a-vis its all important youth culture.

For more analysis on this issue you can see my articles on the protests at al-Jazeera's English website here, for the Social Science Research Council here, and for the Huffpo here.

And if you are an Iranian artist/musician/rapper, or know any who want to share their experiences, please have them contact me at mlevine@uci.edu.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-levine/blog-posts-from-irans-met_b_217517.html