I have come to appreciate Rap music may be because I like poetry. Rappers are poets and are one of the wittiest most clever writers with incredible punch lines as well as having versatility with their words. I love the beats. A good one soothes the ear and distresses the mind.
In today’s Iran, Rap music is the music of choice for the youth. For the majority of them who are born after the revolution and who are simply struggling to live, Rap music has become a voice. These poets are young and they are singing for their own generation by speaking their hearts. A vibrant and soulful culture does not just follow its traditional roots but also steps into new and forbidden genre.
What the youth are experiencing in Iran and what they are trying to achieve are not even close to what we, the West residing older generation, are thinking. If we stand too far from the truth, I am afraid, we cannot be of any help.
HSK
aka darya
P.S. ” A boy selling flower ” picture is taken in Dec 2011 while visiting Iran.
Yas
Album: In Hope of Iran
Translated by Rooznamehdivari
YAS – Be Omide Iran p.
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For three minutes, listen to me with your heart
So I can show you Iran and the people’s true colors
These stories are about today and yesterday, so stand up
Iran has become a prisoner of a deadly virus
We don’t need anymore political speeches
We don’t need anymore foreign enemies
Now there is a mental war inside Iran
Everybody’s at each other’s throat, whether wise or insane
You go with a tired, pounded and withered body
To wrestle the difficulties of life
When we are facing each other, we are friends and companions
But when you leave, we swear at you and your family
Our eyes are full of spite when we look at each other
We no longer listen to our conscience’s feelings
We’re just going with the flow
He’s with you only while you’re useful to him
Girls, from the moment they hear the name of a merchant,
Say: this is the best person for marriage
What’s love? Forget it
Say “Hi” from us if you ever saw it
So many dads who’ve had to spend all that they had
‘Cuz the children think their father is the Oil Minister
Everybody only thinks of himself
These aren’t progress, this is a setback
My heart is filled with every pain
And the reason goes back to seven years ago
The days of weeping, tears and mourning
Me, being worried about food for the guests
I told one of them: “At least you man-up
It doesn’t matter if you owed my dad a lot of money
Be somewhat fair and pay at least half of it
He said, The one I owed to was your dad and he’s dead now
These are the memories that I write in my notebook
The words flow as I write them
All of this fills my throat with such spite
It blocks the oxygen from my mouth
Maybe you don’t see a connection between Iran and my story
I just mean that I have a bad memory from here, but
This is my country and my homeland
Iran is the only reason for my existence
Now, the way of our relations and attitude
Is becoming even filthier than the air in Tehran
Some say, Iran is a cage and you have to
get out of here to feel free again
They say, this goes back to our ancestors
But this is the influence of gas and oil’s money
Which is the cause of our financial insecurity that
Makes us betray each other in the hard times
You have to stand up and rebuild yourself; you can do it
Why are you torturing each other for money?
My fellow-citizen, I’m content with your success
So let’s break these parallel lines
I know that
The pride of us Iranians
Is our past
It is our history
But I swear that’s over now
What are we now?
What do we have for our future?
Come my fellow-citizen, let’s take each other’s hands
So that the future of Iran can take pride in the name of you and I.
