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• 1 media/08-26-iran-01-1.webp 2024-10-28T09:19:03-07:00 From “021-music.com” to the World Stage 14 From Underground to Mainstream: A Movement Through Music image_header 2024-12-09T08:59:44-08:00
  The music associated with the WLF freedom has been characterized by recently
  emboldened artists, who feel like they can openly criticize the regime in ways that are, until now,
  completely unprecedented.
  
  Toomaj Salehi serves as an exemplar of this new wave, with his track
  “Rathole.” (Siamdoust) Salehi deftly combines incendiary lyrics that present not only a call to
  action but a gruesome promise to the current regime and potent rhetoric. The latter is evidence of
  a clear shift where there is now not only an audience for this message but a level of discontent
  that can facilitate the intensification of an already revolutionary message. It is unprecedented not
  only because of the subject matter, but because of Salehi’s unique position, within the country,
  rather than a part of the diaspora. This positionality lends itself well to the message, as seen below:

  “Freedom is expensive? Fine, the free will give their lives
  Remember only blood washes away blood
  [...]
  Take from me the good news of a tomorrow with vengeance”

  -Toomaj Salehi in ”Soorakh Moosh, or Rathole”
  
  These lyrics mean a lot more when they come from a place of vulnerability, within Iran’s borders,
  rather than the insulated position many musicians enjoy outside the country. Other artist that
  have emerged since the relaxation of government repression of the Iranian underground rap
  community, and diasporic voices such as Justina and rap collective Moltafet have contributed
  from their advantageous point outside the Islamic regime. (Siamdoust) Besides the uniquely
  Iranian essence of the preceding tracks, there is much to say about the interpolation of songs
  from protest movements around the globe into the WLF movement in a stark display of
  intersectionality and solidarity.
  
  Such examples include the Chilean folk song, “There’s A Rapist
  In Your Path,” and the Italian anti-fascist song, “Bella Ciao,” which are adapted and imbued with
  the contemporary message singular to the WLF’s context. (Siamdoust, 2023) This explosion of protest
  music is reflective of a hotbed of activism, and, more importantly, a willing and participating
  audience in the movement towards real change in Iran. The adoption of global anthems of change is reciprocal; songs 
  closely tied to the WLF movement, such as Shervin Hajipour's Baraye have found similar worldwide audiences. The fertile
  hotbed that is the Iranian underground and pop music scene both contribute to protest in very different ways. The more overt,
  charged, calls to action like 'Rathole' which emerge from the anger and mistrust of the counterculture underground, and the 
  comparatively clean cut, polished, rhetorically-driven emotional outpourings from pop stars like Hajipour. The more renown an artist
  has, the more they have to produce within the confines of the impositions surrounding music instated by the Islamic Republic.
  In this way, pop stars have to thread the needle, while rappers stemming from the 021-music.com scene pull no punches,
  both of which are invaluable to the impact music has had in this movement.
  
  -Satchel Williams
  
  References:
  
        “Down the ‘Rathole’: How a rapper channels Iran regime change discourse,” Iran Source, 12 Oct 2021; https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/down-the-rathole-how-a-rapper-channels-iran-regime-change-discourse/Links to an external site.
        Siamdoust, Nahid. 2023. “A Global Rap-e Farsi Rises to Speak Truth to Power in Iran." Hot Spots, Fieldsights, June 29. https://culanth.org/fieldsights/a-global-rap-e-farsi-rises-to-speak-truth-to-power-in-iranLinks to an external site.
        “Rapper Toomaj Salehi became an icon in Iran. It could cost him his life,” Nilo Tabrizi, Washington Post, 2 May 2024; https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/02/iran-rapper-toomaj-salehi-sentence/Links to an external site.