JIGSAWNOVICH

photo/design: Azim Fathi

Review by Julie Ann Ashcraft A.K.A. Julie Jigsawnovich

Quf raps in Persian and is known for his inventive and poetic use of Tehran slang. Sometimes he coins new slang together with his producer, Mahdyar Aghajani--and the 'Godfather of Iranian Rap,' Hichkas. An excellent example of this endeavor is the Quf track, Basse Moftbari. Quf's emphatic yet cool delivery and the dark, dank scenes conjured by the lyrics are complemented by Bidad's chilling traditional Iranian vocal style, Madhyar's beat and vividly trippy music, and Guy Buss' incredibly three-dimensional mastering. This track was released in January and I still listen to it at least five times a day. There is an element of theater to Basse Moftbari, yet it somehow captures a street reality. My favorite line is the last one: "This is all reality so don’t curse me." ‎اهدافت فقط چند تا داف بشکه  

You can hear the song, and see the full songwriter credits and lyrics, at //mahdyaraghajani.com. Mahdyar is currently producing Quf's forthcoming album "Ziro Bame Zirzamin", an alternative hip hop LP which is a mixture of hip hop and Persian traditional music.

(c) 2010 Julie Ann Ashcraft   All rights reserved   Regarding permissions, contact Julie at: julieannashcraft (at) yahoo (dot) com