“In Iran, political dissenters find expression through rap music”

This week in class, we discussed how Pharrell Williams’s hit song, “Happy,” spread through the world, influencing people all over to sing, dance, and laugh.  This showed not only a picture of globalization, but also emphasized the importance of music around the world.  In Iran, there have been several incidents of the “Morality Police” controlling and murdering women for misogynistic reasons, the most well-known being Mahsa Amini.  Rappers have started to make protest music, some of which “plays off of cultural references used against Iranian women and speaks meaningfully to the specific struggles of women in the movement.”  This article explores the importance of art and music as a form of protest that unites people and creates change.

Libby Gardner

https://www.npr.org/2022/11/12/1136267858/in-iran-political-dissenters-find-expression-through-rap-music