Shahin Najafi

The Iranian musician, poet and singer Shahin Najafi has long been on the blacklist of his home country’s guardians of morality. He fled Iran in 2005 because he was sentenced to three years behind bars and 100 lashes for his song »I have a beard«. In 2012, he was twice sentenced to death under a fatwa. It is sometimes bluesy pop, sometimes rap, independent rock and Persian chanson, but always deep and political. With his music and his texts, he fights for equality – and for freedom.