Hichkas: The songs that defied the Iranian government

Another recurring theme in Hichkas's work has been the increasing censorship of artistic expression in Iran, where artists are required permits under the narrow rules of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which ensure that cultural works are inoffensive in the eyes of the clerical establishment. Shining a light on the impossibility of creative freedom under censorship, Hichkas asked whether Iran's revered literary works would have come to life under these conditions: "What if Hafez for his Divan, what if Rumi for his Masnavi and Muhammad for his Quran had to receive government publication permits?"

A good day will come?

Hichkas's perennial collaborator under the pioneering Moltafet label, the producer Mahdyar Aghajani, has been central to the development of the Iranian hip-hop sound. In its early days, Iranian hip-hop artists rapped in English and were heavily inspired by US rap in their appearance and musical expression. Aghajani, who had classical music training, sought to create a distinctly Iranian sound by using traditional Persian instruments like the tar, a long-necked lute and the ney, a type of flute, and Hichkas's key lyrics were written in Persian instead of English. Despite initial inspiration from and imitation of Western rap, Iranian rappers created a distinct identity, as expressed by the popular rapper Yas in 2014: "Poetry is in our blood. If [Tupac] could sing about his life and pain and his culture, why couldn't I do the same thing in my own language?"

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