Icon: enlarge
Musician Mehdi Rajabian
Photo: Mehdi Rajabian
Ayatollah Khomeini did not like music. He thought it was "a drug" that prevents people from "important activities. We have to eliminate them completely «. After 1979, only revolutionary or religious music was allowed on radio, television and the public. There are even said to have been raids to destroy instruments in the villages.
The long tradition of Persian and Iranian music, such as that of Sufism, could not be interrupted. People made their own instruments and began to write songs again. From 2000 the popular scene flourished again, albeit mostly behind closed doors in the larger cities. The internet promotes exchange in the underground, there is rock, rap, dance music and also traditional folk. Young music that tells of another Iran. That makes them dangerous in the eyes of the religious authorities. For about ten years the regime has been trying to push back this cultural bloom.
Mehdi Rajabian, 31, is one of the most important voices in this forbidden culture. His latest album, "Middle Eastern," gathers styles and voices from all over the Middle East - including female ones. In 2013 he was arrested, interrogated and put in solitary confinement for three months for working with artists.
Read more with Spiegel Plus
More perspectives, more understanding.
Your advantages with SPIEGEL +
Icon: Check
SPIEGEL as a magazine
as an app, e-paper and on the e-reader
Icon: Check
All articles on SPIEGEL.de
Exclusive texts for SPIEGEL + readers
Icon: Check
Try one month for free
Cancel anytime online
A price
only € 19.99 per month
One month for € 0.00
Try now for 0.00 € Buy nowArrow to the right
Already have a digital subscription? Register here
Restore iTunes subscription
SPIEGEL + is processed via your iTunes account and paid for with a purchase confirmation.
24 hours before it expires, the subscription is automatically renewed by one month at the current price of € 19.99.
You can cancel the subscription at any time in the settings of your iTunes account.
In order to use SPIEGEL + outside of this app, you must link the subscription to a SPIEGEL ID account immediately after purchase.
With the purchase you accept our general terms and conditions and privacy policy.
