This delightful list looks at Iran and the diaspora, who are often in a state of self-imposed if not state-imposed exile. We listen to the heartbeat of the resistance of artists through self-awareness and creativity. From rappers to singer-songwriters, Iran’s rich cultural history of Persian empires and millennia of civilization reaches us in composition, costume, musical and lyrical innovation, scenography, and overall style, not to mention the creative means of bypassing the intended cultural isolation by the current regime. Through sheer willpower, these voices find each other and the exiled diaspora across the mesh of wifi signals that hold them together and transcend censorship.

Music: Jarshaa
Video: Jarshaa
Track: Khanevadegi 2 (Familial 2) (Iran, 2022)

If any video captures the width and breadth of Iranian rap music today it is Jarshaa’s monumentally epic magnum opus «Khanevadegi 2» (Familial/Family 2). In a stunning tag-team-style project, 39 different rappers represent each of the 31 provinces of this huge country, each wearing a shirt with their location on Iran’s map. The markedly different musical forms and indigenous instruments, costumes, iconic locations, and regional vocals make this video the musical journey of a lifetime. The sheer effort put into the video edits, the seamless musical transitions, and the mind-blowing concept make this forward-thinking creative feat a classic that any music lover and ethnomusicologist today should be aware of and return to time and again.

Music: Eendo
Lyrics, Music, Production, Video: Ardalan Payvar (Shaadbaanoo)
Track: Fekresho Kardi Taa Be Haal? (Has It Ever Crossed Your Mind?) (Iran/USA, 2023)

Despite all of the efforts to suppress the voices of women in Iran, the image of singer Shaadbaanoo’s kick-ass lyrics being thrown in your face with all the force of the duo Eendo’s creative power defies all odds. While her hair billows in the background, she sings «Free my locks in the air, now the power is all mine». With its driving bassline and gathering beat, this track is dedicated to all the lovers of Iran, asking if we, the listeners, are free of blame. «They call me ‹The Sinner›, the ‹corrupter of humankind›, what’s your crime? Has it ever crossed your mind?» A powerful manifesto for the continuing revolution against the oppressive regime of Iran: «I’m a comrade of Iran, my codeword is Mahsa Amini, my voice reaches far and wide, beyond boundaries.» Mahsa Amini is a code word since the murder of 21-year-old Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini kicked off the women’s revolution in Iran and its diaspora in September 2022.

Lyrics: Shapur
Music: Mahdyar
Track: Marg Bar Kolle Nezam (Down With the Whole Regime) (Iran/France, 2023)

Few raps spit bars like this one, let alone include the actual sound effect of the rapper spitting! This track literally lines up the ammo and spits battle lyrics aimed at the regime of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (like their CIA, called the IRGC which is divided into the Sepahi and Basiji, as mentioned in the lyrics). Not only are the track’s words full of exemplary bile but this rapper’s voice is perfectly pitched to make that particular «kkhhaaack» sound at the back of his throat to shoot, machine gun-like, the appropriate bile aimed back at the IRGC. He flings insults in Persian that are unparalleled in sonic and poetic impact! «We will fight with stones, sticks, power cables and spit» (and then spits).

A woman is the mother of all men
We fight even with stones and sticks
Electric wire and saliva
We all shout together
You brought shame to Iran,
Down with the whole regime!

Music: Sadegh «Booghi» & Soor
Video: Sajjad Ahmadzadeh Track: Ow Ow (Iran, 2024)

This song and video is a spin-off of a clip in which aptly named 70-year-old pensioner and taxi driver Sadegh «Booghi» literally boogies for a crowd in a market in the Caspian Sea city of Rasht. Known locally as Uncle Sadegh, he earned the nickname booghi (megaphone), because he went for years to the football stadiums with a megaphone to cheer on his team. The globally viral video became a symbol of resistance as people all over the world remixed the dance with that catchy song that required no instruments. The lyrics sing of being from Rasht, telling onlookers to «cheer up» as the singer professes their love for them. The Asia Football Confederation’s (AFC) official online page posted a video of the Iranian team players, male and female, dancing to the song, remixed by musician Sajjad Ahmadzadeh.

The regime tried to censor Booghi’s videos as he quickly amassed thousands of followers, because dancing in public, as well as men and women dancing together, is outlawed by the regime in Iran. The men from the video were blindfolded and beaten and made to sign a pledge that they would never sing or dance again. Booghi’s page content was deleted, yet the regime’s cyber army was forced to reinstate it after mass outrage, and «Ow Ow» went as far as Africa!

Music: Labyrinth
Video: Priscilla Kounkou Hoveyda
Track: Etehad (Unity) (Iran/Turkey, 2023)

In the south of Iran, a strong tradition of Black culture and music is rooted in Gulf spiritualism, naval culture, and Bushehri identity. The band Labyrinth from Bandar Abbas identifies as such, producing music and videos with this woven into their work. Afro-Iranian identity surfaces as instrumentation, makeup and hair, choreography, and musical style (traditional trance) in urban coastal settings. Now, in exile in Turkey due to their music, projecting into a self-aware «post-women’s revolution Iranian reality», their powerful music takes on the politics of the enduring Woman, Life, Freedom movement since Mahsa Jina Amini’s murder.