TEHRAN, IRAN—In a cozy soundproof recording studio housed in a decrepit building here, the rap musician known as Felakat lounges on a chair, surrounded by sound mixers and other sleek recording gizmos. Sporting a tousled black shirt, a slick fur jacket, and a rumpled and spiky hairstyle, the Iranian rapper might well pass for a punk icon. "I devoted my life to rap when I was just 15," says the 27-year-old Felakat, which means "miserable" in Farsi. "Rap is my god."
Felakat is well aware of the perils of his musical choice. Rap is forbidden in Iran. Even so, Felakat and numerous other rap musicians are the demigods of Iran's underground music scene—which encompasses any group that fails to obtain a recording license from Iran's stern Culture Ministry and distributes its albums illegally through the flourishing black market.
Felakat has a considerable following in a nation where 70 percent of the population is under 30. He coyly admits his female fans have "become fanatical" in the year since the release of "Nazgol," his hit track themed on love and fidelity. "I've had to change my mobile phone number twice," he says with a grin, a cigarette dangling between his lips.
With the introduction of satellite television in Iran in the early 1990s—also illegal—and the popularity of American artists like 2Pac and Eminem, hip-hop music found an explosive following among the Iranian youth. Eventually the young Iranians turned to creating this genre of music in Farsi.
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