Shervin Hajipour

Shervin Hajipour
Hajipour in May 2024
Born
Shervin Haji Aghapour

(1997-03-30) 30 March 1997 (age 27)
Babolsar, Mazandaran, Iran
Alma materUniversity of Mazandaran
Occupations
  • Singer-songwriter
  • producer
Years active2018–present
Known for"Baraye"
Notable workDiscography
AwardsGrammy Award for Best Song for Social Change
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
  • Violin

Shervin Haji Aghapour (Persian: شروین حاجی‌ آقاپور; born 30 March 1997) is an Iranian singer-songwriter. Born in Babolsar, he began posting covers to his social media in late 2018. After auditioning in New Era television show on 22 March 2019 with "Maybe Paradise", he released the song as his debut single on all platforms and gained recognition among the younger Iranian generation. Hajipour rose to fame after the release of his single "Baraye" which has been described as "the anthem" of the 2022 protests. In 2023, he won the first Grammy Award for Best Song for Social Change at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards for "Baraye".[1][2]

Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023.[3]

On 1 March 2024, Hajipour was sentenced to 3 years and 8 months of jail and ordered to write anti-America-Aggression music because of "Baraye", a song that won Best Song for Social Change at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.[1][4]

Early life and education

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Shervin Haji Aghapour was born on 30 March 1997, in Babolsar, Mazandaran. He took up music at the age of eight, when he entered a violin class. In secondary school, he started to compose professionally. He attended the University of Mazandaran, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in economics.[5] While at university, he composed music for theatre performances and editing. He later began to sing himself.[5][6]

Career

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At the age of 22, Hajipour participated in New Era, a TV Talent show competition (produced by Ehsan Alikhani), where he advanced to the finals of the second round of its first season.[5][7][8][9][citation needed]

During the 2022 protests in Iran, sparked by the death of Iranian Mahsa Amini, Hajipour published his new song "Baraye..." (Persian: برای, For...; Because of...). Written in support of the protests,[10] the song's lyrics were drawn from posts written by protesters and their supporters starting with the word Baraye...,[11][12] and references the slogan "Zan, Zendegi, Âzâdi".[13][14] He posted "Baraye" to his Instagram, where it received more than 40 million views in less than two days.[15][16] Other Iranian social media users posted their own videos of singing or playing the song in public.[11]

On 29 September 2022 Hajipour was arrested for his song "Baraye",[17][18][19] and was forced to remove the song from his social media platforms[12][20] by the IRGC's security agents shortly after his arrest.[21][22] His arrest garnered criticism from multiple Iranians and musicians, including Murat Boz,[23] Mohammad Esfahani,[24][25] Rana Mansour,[26] Karim Sadjadpour,[27] and Roger Waters.[28] Tasnim News Agency, affiliated to the IRGC, posted an edited version of the video clip, with images showing the Republic's achievements instead of the original ones.[29] Following Hajipour's arrest, many social media users nominated "Baraye" for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences' Grammy Awards new category "Best Song For Social Change".[30][31]

On 4 October 2022, Hajipour was released on bail "so that his case can go through the legal process," according to Mohammad Karimi, prosecutor of the northern province of Mazandaran.[11][32][33] Hajipour then posted on Instagram that the song was regrettably being used by political groups outside Iran; activists believe this statement may have been coerced.[34]

Shervin Hajipour received the Special Merit Award for Best Song For Social Change for "Baraye" at the 2023 GRAMMYs, which was presented by U.S. First Lady Jill Biden, who highlighted Hajipour's message. In 2023, Hajipour was listed as one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World.[35]

On 29 August 2023, Pakistani actor Humayun Saeed revealed via his Instagram account that Shervin Hajipour's song "Dornaye Mongharez" would serve as the official OST for the drama series Meray Paas Tum Ho.[36] The series' Persian OST was also produced by Hajipour.[37][38]

On 1 March 2024, Hajipour was sentenced to serve up to four years in jail, with eight months for creating propaganda against the government and three years for "encouraging and provoking the public to riot to disrupt national security."[39] Along with the jail sentence, Hajipour was ordered to write anti-America-Aggression music regarding their crimes against humanity and human rights violations.

On 31 July 2024, Shervin Hajipour published a video on his Instagram social network and announced that his prison sentence has been finalized and he must present himself to prison within the next 3 days.[40][41][42] On 23 September, Hajipour announced that he had received a pardon.[43]

Discography

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Main article: Shervin Hajipour discography

Hajipour has released 36 songs, 3 soundtrack songs, 5 music videos, 48 unreleased songs, and 3 songs as featured artist.

Accolades

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Awards and nominations

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Award Year Recipient(s) Category Result Ref.
Grammy Awards 2023 Baraye Best Song for Social Change Won [1][44]

Honors

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Shervin Hajipour Wins Best Song For Social Change For "Baraye" | 2023 GRAMMYs". www.grammy.com. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  2. ^ Team (15 May 2024). "Shervin Hajipour: An Iranian Pop Star's". Iran Brands Review. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  3. ^ "The 100 Most Influential People of 2023". Time. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  4. ^ "حکم ۳ سال و ۸ ماه حبس و ساختن موسیقی علیه آمریکا، مجازات شروین حاجی‌پور خالق «برای»". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Biografi-ye Shervin Hajjipur az Asr-e Jadid ta dastgiri" [A Biography of Shervin Hajipur from Asr-e Jadid to his arrest]. photokade.com (in Persian). Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  6. ^ "ترانه اعتراضی "برای..." در شبکه‌های اجتماعی رکورد زد". Radio Farda. 29 September 2022.
  7. ^ "'Woman, life, freedom': L.A. protest over Iran draws thousands". Los Angeles Times. 1 October 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  8. ^ "How a viral song became the unofficial anthem of Iran's protests". The Washington Post. 4 October 2022. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 5 October 2022. Hajipour, 25, was released on bail Tuesday, according to Iranian state media.
  9. ^ "کد دستوری رای شروین حاجی آقاپور و شکوفه عزیزی در قسمت نهم عصر جدید". Fararu. 4 June 2019.
  10. ^ "گزارش زنده: بازداشت حسین ماهینی و شروین حاجی‌پور در سیزدهمین شب اعتراضات". Voice of America. 29 September 2022.
  11. ^ a b c "Iran arrests musician as anthem for protests goes viral". The Guardian. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  12. ^ a b "Iran detains journalists and celebrities as death toll from "ruthless" crackdown on protests climbs". CBS News. 30 September 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  13. ^ "Iranischer Song über Kritik gegen Regime mehr als 40 Millionen Mal geklickt – Sänger festgenommen". Deutschlandfunk Kultur. 30 September 2022. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  14. ^ "شروین حاجی‌پور، خواننده آهنگ "‌برای…"، بازداشت شد". IranWire. 29 September 2022.
  15. ^ "شروین حاجی پور، خواننده ترانه اعتراضی "برای..." بازداشت شده است". BBC Persian. 29 September 2022.
  16. ^ "شروین حاجی‌پور، خواننده ترانه "برای ..."، بازداشت شد". Radio Farda. 29 September 2022.
  17. ^ "Iran Arrests Singer Whose Song Became Anthem of Ongoing Protests". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 30 September 2022.
  18. ^ "Iran: l'auteur d'une chanson en hommage aux manifestants arrêté par la police". Le Figaro. 30 September 2022.
  19. ^ Esfandiari, Golnaz. "Iran Arrests Singer Whose Song Became Anthem Of Ongoing Protests". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  20. ^ "Iran protests over Mahsa Amini death enter third week". France 24. 29 September 2022.
  21. ^ "Las protestas contra el uso obligatorio del velo superan las fronteras de Irán". El Correo. 29 September 2022.
  22. ^ "اجرای ترانه "برای..." از صفحه اینستاگرام شروین حاجی‌پور حذف شد". Euronews. 29 September 2022.
  23. ^ "اعتراض خواننده مشهور ترکیه به بازداشت شروین، خواننده ترانه "برای"" [The Protest of a Famous Turkish Singer against the Arrest of Shervin, the Singer of the "Baraye" Song] (in Persian). Al Ain. 30 September 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  24. ^ ""برای…" شروین؛ بیان خواسته‌های نسل معترض دهه ۸۰" [The Protest of a Famous Turkish Singer against the Arrest of Shervin, the Singer of the "Baraye" Song] (in Persian). Independent Persian. 1 October 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  25. ^ "واکنش محمد اصفهانی به دستگیری شروین حاجی زاده" (in Persian). eghtesaad24. 1 October 2022.
  26. ^ "Rana Mansour singt "Baraye" - die Hymne der iranischen Revolution 2022". The Voice of Germany. 4 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  27. ^ Sadjadpour, Karim (5 October 2022). "8. No matter what happens to the protests..." Twitter. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  28. ^ "ابراز همبستگی هنرمندان جهان با اعتراضات: "در کنار زنان ایران ایستاده‌ام"" [Artists from all over the World express their Solidarity with the Protests: I take a stand next to Iranian Women] (in Persian). BBC Persian. 30 September 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  29. ^ Presse, AFP-Agence France. "Iranian Singer Arrested During Amini Protests Released". www.barrons.com. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  30. ^ "Barname-ye Tasviri-ye Chashmandaz-e Bamdadi-ye Radio BBC, 35:03-36" [The Video Programme of Radio BBC's Chashmandaz-e Bamdadi] (in Persian). BBC Persian. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  31. ^ "New Categories For The 2023 GRAMMYs Announced: Songwriter Of The Year, Best Video Game Soundtrack, Best Song For Social Change & More Changes". www.grammy.com. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  32. ^ "شروین حاجی‌ آقاپور از بازداشت شدگان اغتشاشات اخیر آزاد شد". Islamic Republic News Agency (in Persian). 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  33. ^ "Iranian singer released on bail days after arrest during protests". www.rudaw.net. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  34. ^ "Hashtags, a viral song and memes empower Iran's protesters". BBC News. 2 November 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  35. ^ Satrapi, Marjane (13 April 2023). "Shervin Hajipour Is on the 2023 Time 100 List". Time. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  36. ^ "Instagram".
  37. ^ Qureshi, Hooriya (30 August 2023). "Mere Paas Tum Ho OST In Persian". Pakistan News International. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  38. ^ "WATCH: Mere Paas Tum Ho OST in Persian out now!". Daily Pakistan Global. 30 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  39. ^ "Iranian Grammy Winner Sentenced To Prison, Writing Anti-U.S. Music". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  40. ^ "شروین حاجی‌پور از تایید حکم زندانش به خاطر ترانه اعتراضی «برای» خبر داد". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). 30 July 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  41. ^ فردا, رادیو (31 July 2024). "شروین حاجی‌پور، خواننده معترض، از تأیید حکم زندانش خبر داد". رادیو فردا (in Persian). Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  42. ^ Farda, RFE/RL's Radio. "Iranian Grammy Award-Winning Singer Ordered To Start Prison Sentence". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  43. ^ "Iran pardons Grammy Award winner whose song became an anthem to the 2022 protests". Associated Press. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  44. ^ Fassihi, Farnaz (6 February 2023). "'Baraye,' the Anthem of Iran's Protest Movement, Wins a Grammy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  45. ^ "The 100 Most Influential People of 2023". Time. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
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