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The State of the Arts in the Middle East, Volume V Viewpoints The State of the Arts in the Middle East: Volume V The Middle East Institute Washington, DC July 2010 This edition of MEI Viewpoints features essays that shed light on the relationship between artistic production and changing societal conditions and norms. Clayton Keir discusses “rap” music in Iran – its integration of Western and Persian cultural influences, politics, and popularity. Brigid Maher reflects on the making of Veiled Voices, her award-winning documentary film that profiles three female Muslim religious leaders from Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria. Middle East Institute Viewpoints • www.mei.edu Middle East Institute The mission of the Middle East Institute is to promote knowledge of the Middle East in Amer- ica and strengthen understanding of the United States by the people and governments of the region. For more than 60 years, MEI has dealt with the momentous events in the Middle East — from the birth of the state of Israel to the invasion of Iraq. Today, MEI is a foremost authority on contemporary Middle East issues. It pro- vides a vital forum for honest and open debate that attracts politicians, scholars, government officials, and policy experts from the US, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. MEI enjoys wide access to political and business leaders in countries throughout the region. Along with information exchanges, facilities for research, objective analysis, and thoughtful commentary, MEI’s programs and publications help counter simplistic notions about the Middle East and America. We are at the forefront of private sector public diplomacy. Viewpoints are another MEI service to audiences interested in learning more about the complexities of issues affecting the Middle East and US relations with the region. To learn more about the Middle East Institute, visit our website at http://www.mei.edu Call for Papers The arts of the Middle East are “alive” — with new artists, genres, and themes continuously being graft- ed onto old, adding shades and texture. While some of these are represented in this volume, many more are not. In the interest of providing a fuller picture of the state of the arts in the region, MEI welcomes additional essays from young and established scholars. These essays (1,000-1,200 words) must be acces- sible to non-specialists and aim to shed light on the importance of a specific artist, body of work, theme, or genre. Topic proposals will be accepted on a rolling or ongoing basis. Essays accepted for publication will be added to the current collection and published in electronic format. Please submit topic propos- als in the form of a 100-word abstract (including full name, title, and affiliation) to Dr. John Calabrese at [email protected] Cover photos, clockwise from the top left hand corner: Wikimedia user YASfans, Tiny Leaps Productions, LLC , Wikimedia user Irazfan, Wikimedia user Poeterfan, Wikimedia user Need4change, Wikimedia user Irazfan, Tiny Leaps Productions, LLC 118 Middle East Institute Viewpoints • www.mei.edu Viewpoints Special Edition The State of the Arts in the Middle East: Volume V Volume I, please click here Volume II, please click here Volume III, please click here Volume IV, please click here Coming in August... State of the Arts Volume VI: Creative Arab Women Middle East Institute Viewpoints • www.mei.edu 119 Tupac and the Ayatollahs Clayton Keir In February 2010, Stockholm, Sweden hosted the Persian Hip Hop Festival: Voices of Change. Persian rappers came from around the world to call for changes in Iran through their rap music. Prior to her performance, one of Iran’s female rappers, Ghogha (Rebel), said to the audience: I come from a place where music is a crime. New ideas are crimes. They execute young people for having new ideas. We have come together here to remember the children of Iran.1 Although the Islamic Republic’s suppression of students and new ideas has existed for Clayton Keir received his many years, Ghogha was specifically condemning the events after Iran’s 2009 presiden- Bachelor and Master’s de- tial election, attacking the government’s use of violence to suppress protests, and asking grees from the Georgetown the audience to remember the young university students who have been executed. She School of Foreign Service. He then went on to perform her most famous song, “Aroosak Kooki” (Wind-up Doll). In it learned Persian by studying she says: at the Middle East Institute, Georgetown University, and One can live like a doll abroad in Tajikistan, where Living for years among the abusiveness of men he recorded a Persian rap With its tough strain. CD in the Winter of 2009. Yell: I’m a very lucky woman. Clayton also taught Persian Scream this! at the Middle East Institute I’m just here to tell you who I am. in the Spring of 2010. He also I am the voice of 1,000 abused women. wishes to thank Minoo Raza- I don’t want to live like a wind-up doll.2 vi and Leila Milani for their assistance. For Ghogha, Iranian woman are mere toys for male enjoyment. In Iran, women are not free; men control their actions, making women into wind-up dolls. Additionally, by stating that she is the voice of a thousand abused women, Ghogha ascribes to rap music and musicians the ability to speak for a segment of the Iranian population. She is using her rap music to persuade. The Persian Hip Hop Festival, Ghogha’s comments, and her song, reflect how Persian rap music has emerged as a musical form of protest. Many Persian rap musicians write lyrics to highlight injustices in society, criticize government repression, or call for Iranians to take action. These songs stem from years of frustration with social injustices and seek to persuade listeners and promote opposition. Persian rap music’s popularity and influence over Iran’s modern youth signifies that trends in the music and analysis of the messages are meaningful. For many years rap has been a vehicle of commentary on social, economic, political, and gender issues. How- ever, the events surrounding the June 2009 presidential election have led many rappers to increasingly and more explicitly address political issues in their music. Opposition, 1. Choghok, “Iranian Hiphop Festival in Stockholm.” Iranian.com, February 7, 2010, http:// www.iranian.com/main/blog/choghok/iranian-hiphop-festival-stockholm (Second video) All translations by author unless otherwise indicated. 2. Ghogha, “Aroosak Kooki.” YouTube, October 18, 2008, http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=MJGUCeehJMI (Assistance with translation from Minoo Razavi). 120 Middle East Institute Viewpoints • www.mei.edu The views expressed in these Viewpoints are those of the authors; the Middle East Institute does not take positions on Middle East policy. Keir... support for political factions, and criticism of the government have become increasingly large parts of Persian rap mu- sic. The art form’s growing popularity in Iran makes such a change significant in understanding political developments inside the country. TUPAC’S LEGEND Although Tupac has been dead for 14 years, his influence and legacy are alive in the basement rap music studios of Teh- ran. Rapping about many of the same issues as Tupac (poverty and problems with the police) Persian rappers frequently cite Tupac as one of the reasons they chose rap music. Yas, a popular Persian rapper, claims that Tupac’s lyrics inspired his decision to rap about socio-economic issues. He states, “I started to translate the lyrics and realized he’s singing about society and the culture, about his perspective. I realized then that any kind of music that was going to stick around and have any kind of lasting effect had to say something real. It had to have a message and a deeper significance to it, in any kind of genre.”3 In his music, Yas frequently addresses poverty and other socio-economic issues. In “Dard o Del” (a play on words ref- erencing the Persian phrase for getting something off your chest), Yas talks about the struggles of growing up in a poor family and questions whether God was really looking out for him: Don’t be afraid that God will pick you for suffering, Because these pains were already tested on Yas. I was like a laboratory mouse for God. The results were staring across from me, and there were more difficulties.4 Hichkas, arguably the most famous Persian rapper, addresses poverty in Tehran and its social implications in the song “Khoda Pasho” (Wake up God!). The song talks about Although Tupac has how poverty has forced people to abuse each other, and even though we are all from been dead for 14 the same source, the gaps between classes have grown wide.5 Hichkas’s songs in par- years, his influence ticular invoke the same sense of “thug” street life present in Tupac’s songs. In his song and legacy are alive “Ye Mosht Sarbaz” (A Bunch of Soldiers), Hichkas appears with a group of fellow street thugs and brags about how they have learned from the streets.6 in the basement rap music studios of Te- Iranian rappers have chosen rap music in large part due to the mark that African- hran. Americans such as Tupac have left on it. Iranian rappers view rap music as the music of an economically disenfranchised group and an outlet for grievances. The music form traditionally has an angry, protest-friendly tone. Additionally, the lyrically-based music genre allows for the greater development of criticisms and encourages the listener to focus on what the musician has to say. BEYOND TUPAC In Iran, rap music has evolved beyond its original Western tradition. Of course, not all of Tupac’s messages directly apply to the conditions that impoverished Iranians face.
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