New revolution
Iranian Rap bringing social change

May 28, 2007
iranian.com

Popular Music is heavily criticised by the Frankfurt School of thought with one of its famous theorists Theodor Adorno regarding it as being produced by monopoly organisations who brainwash individuals into thinking that popular music provides them with pseudo-individualisation.  I have selected Iranian Rap music to critique Adorno's theory in relation to the way in which modern contemporary society understands mass and popular culture. The Iranian revolution had its roots in Marxism however in modern society a post modern approach will prevail as Iranian youth bring much needed social change through a progressive revolution. They will use popular music genres such as Rap music to send their messages for change.

In order to make it simpler to discuss Iranian Rap in relation to the theories I have created two categories for them; Firstly ideological Rappers who have a solid emphasis on the political sphere in their lyrics and often directly criticise governmental actions while at the same time encouraging a youth led revolution. Secondly the hedonistic Rappers who are more ignorant and self-indulgent and who often are derived from upper class social backgrounds. In their lyrics they often fantasise about the amount of illegal activities they can get away with, such as glorification of drugs and a free sexual society.

Iran has a conservative Islamic stance on social issues as a result Iranian Rap is not considered mainstream (Alavi, N 2005). This is despite the fact that the genre is listened to by millions of fans throughout the underground scene (The Guardian 2002). If Iranian Rappers were viewed from a Western perspective and according to Marxist standards, they would be considered part of mass culture because sex for marketing consumer products works. However on the other hand, in Iran/st1:place> premarital sex is taboo and illegal, as a result the music is not sold on the market and because their music is not mass produced it can not be part of the culture industry.

The Frankfurt school claims that "modern culture production results in standardized products. For marketing purposes each standard product is given a little sense of individuality, but the culture industry produces vacuity banality and conformity" (Blacks Academy 2007). How can Iranian Rap be considered standardized and banal when it is produced by the consumer market? If their work is trying to create conformity why do the authorities care to prosecute these Rappers? (Six Musicians Arrested 2007) Iranian Rap may be "corrupting, manipulative and destructive of individual consciousness" (Blacks Academy 2007).

However in Iran's case this is something that strengthens the genre as Iranian society is ruled by power dogmatic mullahs who want to assert German doctrine of the 19th century on people. Further their preference and push for "high culture" within the Iranian community is a consequence of their powerful position of controlling exactly what is consumed. Clearly there needs to be a post modern and feminist revolution that drives out these mullahs ability to govern the masses. The high culture that these mullahs impose consists of traditional folk and classical music coupled with the fact that they constantly remind Iranian youth of the revolutions roots by way of forcing the people to "sing revolutionary songs and things that are beyond this world" (Bolour, 2006)

The culture industry in this case is the music imposed on the youth by the Islamic Republic; they are the ones exploiting the "ego weakness of the powerless members of contemporary society" (Feixa, C 2006). They are attempting to make the audience become "dependant, passive and servile" (Feixa, C 2006). On the contrary what Iranian Rap is trying to achieve is to break these hegemonic boundaries in an attempt to open the eyes of the public to their own lack of creative freedom. Interestingly the Frankfurt School theory is working in reverse in Iran. The powerful are the ones who are in control of what is considered high culture and is mass produced by the Ministry of Culture in Iran. The less powerful individuals are the ones who are using popular mediums to fight for a quiet revolution; these are the masses that refuse to consume the productions of the monopoly Government.

The Iranian revolution followed on the Marxist-Leninism doctrine that overthrew the Shah who had a vision for industrialization and operated within a strict class system (Moaveni, A 2005). However the end result has not brought the promises of the revolutionaries but rather as Marx described has brought a revolution "veiled by religious and political illusions, it has substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation" (Blacks Academy 2007) of the Iranian public. So what the Iranian youth are trying to achieve is to reverse this power struggle in their music, voice their unhappiness and ask for change.

Adorno's theory would certainly have a case in America as popular music is currently acting "as 'social cement' brainwashing the people into accepting limited impoverished and unhappy lives ... popular music giving them a temporary release from this awareness, and consequently preventing people from reaching a revolutionary consciousness in which they would strive to overthrow capitalism and work for individualism, freedom and happiness" (Blacks Academy 2007).

In contrast the Iranians are aware of and unhappy about the existing issues and the youth are using Rap music to express themselves (sexually and politically), create awareness and feel happy about their individualisation. Once upon a time in 1979 the Iranian youth rushed into demonstrations and gave up their lives for freedom and change, millions sacrificed their lives in the Iran-Iraq war and many political prisoners got killed and tortured in Evin Prison without even a court case, under the banner of 'a revolutionary consciousness' and these acts of "fighting for individualism, freedom and happiness" as Adorno and Marx like to reinforce has haunted the Iranian society for 25 years and more years to come. Shah was a capitalist and these mullahs are mad. Iran will never have another [1] overnight revolution.

Adorno prefers to describe the process as the consumers falling in the trap of "pseudo-individualisation" but if this creates consciousness and empowers the masses to mobilise, who is to say that this is false. Marx wants the masses to stand up for their rights, isn't that what revolution is about? Wouldn't Herbert Marcuse, who coined the phrase, 'make love, not war,' during the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations be happier that these youth are not creating social change through suicide missions and violence?

Adorno believes that popular music acts as a friend in an unfriendly world (Blacks Academy 2007). This is true. For this reason if the youth start to believe the lyrics and take action the music can bring about positive change for Iranian society because there will be a large group that are united by one music. Adorno says "the music is able to substitute for what the listeners are really denied true freedom of choice, and the ability to effect real change in their environment" (Blacks Academy 2007). This is not necessarily correct because it is arguable that Persian Rap is not 'substituting' their freedom, but they are using it to express their anger and disapprovement of the government. It may not be able to create change alone however it certainly has made an impact on the youth's mindsets by way of allowing them to live normal lives and be able to think outside of what the authorities have imposed on them.

Iranian Rappers can not get permits for their music, they are underground artists who get their music publicised online and often downloaded for free. Their music is reaching a big margin of the Iranian market (Iran Focus 2006) who can relate to the lyrics that do not conform to the standardised dominant culture imposed by the Mullahs. This therefore brings us to the roots of Rap and what it really represents. It was in the 1980s that Rap became visible and massively popular among the black Americans (Feixa, C 2006). The 1980s were a period of decline in living conditions and expectations for blacks under conservative administrations who shifted the wealth from the poor to the rich (Feixa, C 2006). During this period the standard of living and employment opportunities for African-Americans declined (Feixa, C 2006). Black music made use of media culture to disseminate its meanings and express their views to bring change.

Now the Iranian Rap artists are using the same medium to contest similar issues with the aim of articulating different values and politics in an effort to bring freedom of expression through their lyrics. In Iran youth have been defined by the dominant culture yet Iranian youth themselves have constructed their own cultural world. Almost half of the seventy million population of Iran are under 29 (Iran Focus 2006). A solid portion of these people are from the upper and middle-classes whose primary concern is the consumption of Western culture. American popular culture has (to some extent) infiltrated and fused with Iranians through satellite television where one can access the latest music videos and purchase the latest advertised fashion items from expensive boutiques in Tehran. Many of them are uninterested in politics and are hedonistic consumers of mass culture (Feixa, C 2006). In this case it would be common from a Frankfurt School theorist to say that Iranian Rap does not have its own roots, and it is simply copycatted from the West. Adorno would say that Persian Rap has very little home grown substance, as it creates "petty individualism" directing the youth towards social fad (Blacks Academy 2007).

Frankfurt School of thought would be quick to judge that the hedonistic Rappers are just following their Western counterparts (Haghighat 2004); that they are simply meeting the commercial imperatives of industrialisation, capitalism and of the mass-produced culture of the West. Rappers such as Zed-bazi sing about sex and party drugs in their music however they also say why they do it; because of unemployment, lack of the freedom of expression and the morality police who harass them on the streets (Najafi, R 2006).

From a musical perspective, Rappers like Zed-bazi are not particularly original. The songs are based on rhythms from American hit makers like 50 cents and Dr Dre. In the West this music is played on MTV and commercial radios. Western mainstream media all know that sex, drugs and violence are the best ways of entertaining people (Mashkouri, N Oct 2006) because it is attractive and receives attention. Zed-bazi is playing the same game but the difference is that there is no MTV to promote them and no recording label to sell their product. They are getting the attention without making any money, so Marx would be happy to know that in this case no false needs are created through marketing and no capitalist is benefiting from these Rap artists. These Rappers may seem superficial however self-expression is a very rare privilege in Iran. The regime's attempt to shield Iranians from Western influence has backfired magnificently. "The country's youth is now almost obsessed with Western culture and its very illegality gives it an added cachet" (Alavi, N 2005).

So they listen to American black Rappers and express their own depravation in their music. This is not to say that Iranian Rap content is Westernised, as Moaveni puts it "Iran's erotic revolution is not western, if anything it is an indigenous way of coping with the Islamic Republic of reclaiming the freedoms that have been stifled ... " (Moaveni, A 2005). So by Rapping about these issues and their sexual fantasies and what they like to have they are forming "Iran's sexual revolution ... where ordinary young people openly swap lovers, by practicing premarital sex into their twenties and beyond and by not seeking to conceal it; it is middle-class young Iranians who are pioneering the sexual frontier" (Moaveni, A 2005). This therefore proves that Iranian Rap is not as shallow as it might seem and that there is a philosophical meaning behind it, brought about by a reaction to Iranian society's pressures.

What the Iranian regime's media wanted to shove down people's throats in the name of "cultural and artistic works" was not only unattractive but was resented by a large majority (Zanganeh, L 2006). They wanted to fight the existence of popular music in Iran but they realised they can no longer achieve this through direct force so they decided to change popular music's nature from a negative element to one that is positive for their ruling system. So the cultural policy makers and the entertainment industry bosses departed from direct suppression and boycotts and adopted the music's form whilst changing its content and if where they could they bought and corrupted the popular music makers. For example Rapper Shahkar Bineshpajooh who is the first official Rapper from Iran. He has a Government permit to legitimately release his music (Harrison, F 2004). There is nothing offensive or political within his lyrics as a consequence. So the Ministry of Culture has continued to promote their own ideology and values among the masses through their own generated popular culture.

However what the regime did not expect was the sudden popularisation of Iranian underground and the Rap scene. Iranian musicians realised that they can no longer make an impact on their audience through other popular genres, as an article from Tehran Avenue puts it: Persian Rap is "a new vehicle for expression of alienation of the Iranian youth against the dominant culture ... it has the potential of bringing forth a viable subculture that is more forthright than its predecessors". The writer further adds that if Rap makes connection with a wider audience it has the power to bring social change (Mashkouri, N Oct 2006).

Feminists would be critical of the Iranian society as a whole saying that it is patriarchal and that Persian Rap music is even more so encouraging the male dominated society, because the content of the hedonistic Rappers is often revolving around sex and the physical appearance of the women they would associate with. The feminist would say that they objectify women in their music and are portraying a false degrading image of Iranian women. They also create false expectations, that not only women should have perfect bodies but they should also have fairer complexions and lighter hair colours.  This puts a lot of pressure on Iranian women, thinking that they are not good enough, resulting in them not respecting themselves, prostitution, losing hope easily and lowering their expectation for their future partners (Funkeson, K 2005).

Feminists would be more tolerant of political Rappers such as Hichkas and Deev who take a more uniting approach towards the genders. So instead of saying what each sex should expect of the other they tell the masses to stay focused and fight the government. They also use female voices in their music but again this would be looked at negatively from a traditional feminist angle, saying that women are not given the opportunity as the lead singer, "they do not want the woman because of her talent but because they were looking for a woman's voice to cheer it up" (Funkeson, K 2005). However the good news is there are female Rappers who are breaking into Tehran's underground Rap, women such as Salomi and Ghogha who are also making Ahmadinejad particularly upset as their images have started to appear on the internet without the [2] hijab (Bolour, 2006).

Women Rappers are only a very small handful, but they try to talk about the way of life in Iran from a woman's point of view and create awareness about their problems. Female Rappers have more difficulty with having live performances as it is against the Islamic law for a woman to be singing solo for a male audience. However as Ghogha says, Rap music offers her freedom of expression "because I can talk about so many things and there is no rule to tell me what I can and can't say and that's great" (Mashkouri, N May 2006).

Under Islamic rules, women are confined when it comes to popular music, and so the nature of the underground makes them feel on the same level as their male counterparts. Salome has performed with Rappers from Brazil, Turkey and Germany. Her song made it to the top 4 out of the 20 songs selected for the Iranian underground competition (Deljo, F 2006). The traditional feminists would also be happy to hear that Salome's music has rebellious content influenced by anti-war and anti-trend movements like beatnik's and punk in her last teenager years; she has a radical and idealist personality which is reflected directly in her lyrics. Her music is anti-imperialism and anti-American which is a result of living under the rule of the mullahs (Kolah 2006).

In conclusion, Iranian Rap regardless of what it is, hedonistic or political, it is bringing change to the popular music in Iran. This change is good, as it carries messages for the youth, telling them to stand up for their rights. The music tells a woman that she is allowed to decide for her own body and how she wants to represent herself. There is something very empowering in appearing on a stage in genderless clothes and not being praised for having soft feminine voice but instead for having sharp lyrics that cut through all the anti-feministic propaganda imposed by the Iranian government. The Iranian Government will continue to use religion as propaganda to impose culture on the masses. It is the youth that will reverse this culture through their art, regardless of being called low culture. It may take a while but a new revolution is being conceived on the streets of Iran. Comment

Bita Ria, Swinburne University, Melbnourne, Australia.

[1] The government was literally changed overnight.
[2] Headscarf, head cover

References Books

1. Alavi, N 2005, We are Iran, Portobello Books, UK
2. Feixa, C 2006, Global Youth, Routlege, NY
3. Lellner, D 1995, Media Culture, Routlege, NY
4. Moaveni, A 2005, Lipstick Jihad, Beacon Press, USA
5. Zanganeh, L 2006, My sister guard your veil my brother guard your eyes, Beacon Press, USA

Web sites

6. Deljo, F 2006, The first Iranian Intergalactic music festival in Holland, The ultimate Iranian underground and alternative music magazine (Zirzamin), viewed 11 May 2007,

7. Iran Focus 2006, Anti-mullah rap is new hit in Iran, Iran Focus, viewed 11 May 2007,

8. Harrison, F 2004, Iran's self-styled rapping aristocrat, BBC, viewed 11 May 2007,

9. Kolah 2006, Interview with Salome, Kolah Studio, viewed 11 May 2007,

10. The Guardian 2002, A revolution Crumbles, Guardian Unlimited, viewed 10 May 2007,

11. Bolour, 2006, Iran's Underground Music Challenge, BBC, viewed 12 May 2007,

12. Haghighat 2004, Iranian Popular Music from a Social Point of view, the newspaper of the Communist Party of Iran, viewed May 11 2007,

13. Funkeson, K 2005, The Music Industry from the Perspective of Women, Freemuse, viewed 11 May 2007,

14. Mashkouri, N Oct 2006, Persian Hip-Hop Nation, Tehran Avenue, viewed May 10 2007,

15. Rap in Iran 2006, Rap in Iran - the mullahs don't like it, Agenda Inc, viewed 11 May 2007,

16. Six Musicians Arrested 2007, Siz Musicians Arrested, Freemuse, viewed 11 May 2007,

17. We're from Iran - and we want to party 2007, We're from Iran - and we want to party, Telegraph, viewed 11 May 2007,

Underground Music Web site - Zirzamin

18. Mashkoori, N Jan 2006, An interview with Hichkas, The ultimate Iranian underground and alternative music magazine (Zirzamin), viewed 11 May 2007,

19. Mashkouri, N May 2006, An interview with Ghogha, The ultimate Iranian underground and alternative music magazine (Zirzamin), viewed 11 May 2007,

20. Najafi, R 2006, An Interview with Zed-bazi, The ultimate Iranian underground and alternative music magazine (Zirzamin), viewed 11 May 2007,

Online Database (non-Swinburne, requires registration) These documents: The origin of the Frankfurt school, neo-Marxism, Adorno, Hawkheimer, Marcuse, Mass Culture Theory and Post Modernism can be download if you follow the link stated below you will be asked to provide your email address so they documents can be sent to you.

21. Blacks Academy 2007, The origin of the Frankfurt school, neo-Marxism, Adorno, Hawkheimer, Marcuse, Mass Culture Theory, Post Modernism, viewed 11 May 2007, http://www.blacks.veriovps.co.uk/content/3000.html