Click here for synopsis of Turaj's latest music video project, "Rise"

My Story

The Iranian Revolution of 1979 began with the infighting of several different political groups, each struggling to overthrow the Shah of Iran. The Shah, who was the product of a 1953 U.S. coup that had replaced Iran’s own democratically elected leader, violently repressed them all. During this time, my father’s own party went underground, disseminating illegal newspapers to keep people aware of events that otherwise went unreported. After the Ayotollah Khomeini unified enough Iranians to finally oust the Shah, my father continued to speak out against the new revolutionary government, which as he saw it was simply a theocratic face on the same type of oppressive governing. He and my mother both were regularly jailed for their activism.

My earliest childhood memories are of continuous fighting in the streets, of men being executed publicly, and of my mother hiding radios and other contraband from the inspecting revolutionary guard. My later memories are of the revolution turning seamlessly into a war with Iraq, and of the airwaves being filled with bloody propaganda. Soldiers would be recruited off the street, as young as twelve years old, or be gunned down while trying to run away from the recruiters. I would ask my parents why we couldn’t stop to pick them up as they ran, or how we could stop them from fighting, but no answer they could offer made any sense. My grandmother comforted me by reciting the words of Hafiz, the greatest Persian poet, and by teaching me to make my own words dance as his did. Meanwhile the men on television continued to preach hate for the enemy, and promised a fictional tomorrow. I didn’t believe the promises. My mother must not have fallen for them either...

My father was in prison again on the night we escaped, a night my mother had been planning for two years. With several countries’ currencies sewn into the back of her one bag, she made us walk silently by night, sleeping by day, over the giant Zhagros Mountains. When we reached Turkey, it was another struggle to get back to the States, where my mother was a born citizen. And once we reached America, it became a struggle just to live. My mother managed to afford a basement in downtown Chicago, and worked hard to put herself through school while her sons learned to fend for themselves.

By the age of nine I was fluent enough in the new language and culture to be left alone with my brother most of the time. I began to match my rhymes to the beats of America’s music of urban struggle, hip hop. There was a focus on wordplay that reminded me of the metaphors and double-meanings so cherished in Iranian poetry, and the realities of our existence in a basement made me identify with the lyrics.

Quotes

from Turaj’s last collaboration album, Bad Dreams

“… poet-rapper Turaj spends a few weeks crafting haunting lyrics with local storyteller, Reaper. The Iranian-American rapper tackles topics Chingy wouldn’t dream of touching.”

“Turaj’s most recent album “Bad Dreams” has sold out in record stores across Colorado, Oregon, and California, and it looks like it’s just the beginning. Recently, the unconventional rapper opened with a full live band for conscious hip hop legend Spearhead at Club Suede for the opening night of the Sundance Film Festival. Rumor has it that at the festival he was specially invited to tour with another conscious hip hop supergroup, Ozomatli.”

“Known to enlist everything from violins to African percussion, both live and in the studio, Turaj doesn’t let any strict musical style limit his message.”

“Sick of hearing the same ol’ contrived ‘hood stories from rappers?... Turaj and Reaper have two genuinely compelling tales that fuel some of the best hip hop I’ve heard. Catch Turaj while he’s here, because who knows where he’s going next.”

“Turaj is a badass, and tells it like it is.”

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