Seyyedreza's blog

From Tehran to Homs: Musical Solidarity

Seyyedreza — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 08:06:57 +0000

The Shahs of Sunset… and the Rest of Us: “Persian Money” in an Era of FBI Surveillance

Seyyedreza — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:12:56 +0000

"After years of rumors and talk of a Persian version of the Jersey Shore, the nightmare is becoming reality this March when “the Shahs of Sunset” premiers on Bravo. The show will follow six wealthy Iranian-American graduates of Beverly Hills High School who live in Los Angeles, mostly work in real estate, and love to drink, party, and fight. Among them are A$SA Soltan (whose music career I profiled brieflyhere) as well as what is probably American mainstream TV’s first openly gay Iranian, Reza Farahan. The rest of the cast is pretty forgettable.

Iranian Women Rapping and Kicking Ass

Seyyedreza — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:52:11 +0000

A few months ago TM Bax released its newest music video, “Tehran Mal-e Mast.” The video itself is a great look at Tehran and explores these guys’ relationship with the city (and its many fresh fruit juice stands), but one glaring absence shows up: there are almost no women featured in the video! This is a particularly problematic feature given the title (it means “Tehran is Ours”), and points to how both secular guys and religious guys can be patriarchal assholes.