‘They can jail me again. My music will not stop’: The musician risking it all to release his album
For more than nine months, musician and composer Mehdi Rajabian kept himself hidden away in an underground room in Sari, northern Iran, working to create his latest album undercover.
While many artists will tell you they pour blood, sweat and tears into their art, this is much more than just a throwaway phrase for Rajabian.
He has already served more than two years in prison for making music the Iranian authorities did not agree with, including a period of solitary confinement and a hunger strike, but is undeterred – despite the very real threat of more jail time. No power, he says, can stop the “freedom and thought of music”.
Rajabian has collaborated online with singers and musicians from around the world to make the record. Pic: Barg Music
So despite his limitations and the danger he faces in a country where art is heavily censored, the 31-year-old recorded his second album, Coup Of Gods, in a secret basement, patiently dealing with the challenges of keeping hidden, plus low-speed internet, to connect with other musicians from all over the world.
The album includes tracks featuring an orchestra from Brazil, and singers and musicians from everywhere from the US to Italy to Russia. It has been mastered by record producer and songwriter Harvey Mason Jr, who has worked on tracks by stars including Beyonce, Britney Spears, John Legend and Justin Timberlake, and became chief executive of the Recording Academy (which runs the Grammy Awards) earlier in 2021.
Rajabian approached Mason on email and the Grammys boss tells Sky News he was at first “blown away by his story” but ultimately the music had to be good enough. “For me it all came down to what came out of the speakers,” he says. “The music was beautiful, compelling and so well done. In my mind, it is true art.”
Rajabian, also corresponding with Sky News over email, says he is proud of the album and thinks it has “come out really strong”, despite “all the complications” he has had to overcome.
“In Iran, women can’t sing and it’s prohibited,” he says. “Even I got arrested a few months back for finishing an album having female voices. Prison and prohibition have caused Iranian artists to be afraid to be in my album.”
Rajabian is all too aware of the horrors he could face should he be jailed again. In 2013, he spent three months in solitary confinement for propaganda against the state. Solitary confinement “kills the human soul,” he says. “You are no longer a normal human being afterwards.”
Producer and songwriter Harvey Mason Jr, who is releasing the album through his label, says he believes it is “true art”. Pic: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
From 2015, following what Amnesty International described as a “blatantly unfair” trial, he served two years in prison until he was released after a 40-day hunger strike. “Solitary kills the soul and the hunger strike kills the body”, he says, describing it as “like eating your own flesh” because of the damage inflicted. “I lost 15kg of weight and 40% of my vision.”
The musician was arrested again in 2020, for his first album and for working with female dancers and singers, and again, he says, because of his new album earlier this year. He is currently in the midst of a three-year suspended sentence, which could be activated at any time.
Rajabian spent his time behind bars at Iran’s notorious Evin Prison. “It can be said that it is one of the most horrible prisons in the world,” he says. “I spent several months in a Somali pirate cell as a punishment. Prison is a difficult place to live, but what matters is how much you believe in your own thought and philosophy of work; the more you believe, the easier it is for you to overcome difficulties.”
After his arrest, his office was closed and his recordings and hard drives seized. He spent his “whole life” while making the album in his underground room, alone. But he is determined.
“A few months back, I was arrested by the Iranian regime,” he says. “Handcuffed in a court, they asked to seize the project, and [ordered me to] stop making music. But I stated to the judge that even if this means I’m going back to jail, I’ll get my work done. I do not think about the consequences of producing a work of art and I am ready for any consequences. They can imprison me again. I [will] also write music in prison, as I wrote before. Music will not stop under any circumstances.”
The hunger strike left Rajabian with incredibly swollen joints, meaning he can no longer play an instrument himself. So he composed and arranged the album working alongside collaborators including US singers Lizzy O’Very and Aubrey Johnson and musicians such as violinists Yury Revich and Emmanuele Baldini, cellist Rafael Cesario, duduk player Soroosh Nematollahi and sarangi player Vanraj Shastri. His underground room has now been cleared, to remove all trace of his work, and the album is ready to go.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
A teaser for Iranian composer Mehdi Rajabian’s new record, Coup Of Gods.
The first track, Whip On A Lifeless Body, is his most personal. “This piece is the narrator of a human body that no longer has a physical presence,” he says. “The feeling is for the time when I was on a hunger strike, between earth and sky, between life and death, between the living and the dead… on the 29th day of the hunger strike, I opened my eyes that morning and I did not know whether I was alive or dead, on earth or in heaven. I was in a trance. It was a strange feeling.”
Making music, or the type of music Rajabian wants to make, is clearly a dangerous business in Iran. Many would ask why he continues. “Forbidding music for me means sewing my lips,” he says. “I cannot be silent. In the time of oppression, silence means betrayal. Prohibition of art means prohibition of truth and suppression of consciousness. So I have to believe in the freedom of music, even if I go to prison again for it.”
The release comes just weeks after the Taliban’s takeover of bordering Afghanistan, where concerns have been raised for musicians and artists and how their work may be censored. Rajabian says he knows too well the mentality of the country’s new rulers.
“There is only one question for me: how can we as artists express our pain to the world with the language of art, when these kind of painful images are sent to the world from Iran and Afghanistan? As artists, our work has become difficult, because feelings, sadness, surprise and pain are no longer effective.
“The world is no longer amazed by any sound or image; humanity has seen everything that exists. That is why humanity is moving towards fun and entertainment with art. Philosophical, protest and poetic art no longer has a place. Humanity shuns philosophical and painful art because humanity wants to get away from these pains. And that makes it difficult for us.”
Rajabian says that despite everything, hope keeps him alive, “even though I know we have a difficult future ahead of us”.
He continues: “After every darkness there is a light. Finally, I am optimistic about the future.”
Coup Of Gods by Mehdi Rajabian will be released on streaming platforms by Mason’s label Hundredup on 17 September
Entertainment
Quincy Jones: Oprah Winfrey, Elton John and Barack Obama among famous figures paying tribute to music legend
Oprah Winfrey, Sir Elton John and Barack Obama among the famous figures who have paid tribute to Quincy Jones following his death at the age of 91.
Following the announcement of his death on Monday, a string of friends, collaborators and admirers have been speaking out to praise the music producer and composer.
TV host Oprah Winfrey said her life “changed forever for the better” after meeting Jones as he helped secure her role in the 1985 film adaptation of The Colour Purple, which earned her an Oscar nomination.
Jones, the jazz musician known for collaborating with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson, wrote the film score and also co-produced the film.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Quincy Jones dies aged 91
Winfrey wrote on Instagram: “My beloved Q. The world’s beloved Q. The one and only Quincy Jones ‘discovered’ me for The Color Purple movie in 1985. My life changed forever for the better after meeting him.
“I had never experienced, nor have since, anyone who’s heart was so filled with love.
“He walked around with his heart wide open, and he treated everybody as if they were the most important person he’d ever met. He was the Light. No shadows.
“He was love lived out loud in human form and he was the first person I ever loved unconditionally.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
10 things about Quincy Jones
Whoopi Goldberg, who was also in The Colour Purple, also wrote on Instagram: “I was lucky enough to have him in my life for all these years.
“My heart is breaking for his friends and his extended family who loved and adored him… my condolences.”
Read more:
A legend with 19 mobiles and controversial opinions
Quincy Jones’s best-known collaborations
Former US president Barack Obama, who honoured Jones with the US National Medal of Arts in 2010, said: “For decades, Quincy Jones was music.
“From producing Thriller, to composing the score for The Color Purple, to working with Frank Sinatra to Ray Charles, it seemed like every big record – and every big film – had Quincy’s name on it.
“His music appealed to listeners of every race and every age. And by building a career that took him from the streets of Chicago to the heights of Hollywood, Quincy paved the way for generations of Black executives to leave their mark on the entertainment business.”
Barack Obama honoured Quincy Jones with the US National Medal of Arts in 2010. Pic: Reuters
He added: “Michelle and I send our thoughts to Quincy’s friends, family, and everyone who has lived their lives to his songs.”
Sir Elton John remembered Jones as someone who had a more “incredible” career in music than anyone else.
He shared a photo with him at the Elton John Aids Foundation Oscar viewing party, and called him a “loyal supporter of this important fundraiser”.
The singer added: “Nobody had a career as incredible as Quincy Jones. He played with the best and he produced the best. What a guy. Loved him.”
Rapper Ice T hailed Jones as a “genius”, while US Grammy-winner Lenny Kravitz said he was “speechless”, but added: “What a life. What an expression of authenticity. What a teacher. I am humbled that I was given the gift of your openness and friendship”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Singers react to death of ‘hero’ Quincy Jones
Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland thanked Jones for being “such a wonderful teacher” and creating the soundtrack to “some of the most extraordinary moments” in her life.
Jones also helped to launch and was an executive producer on the popular US sitcom The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, starring Will Smith.
Jones with his daughter, actress Rashida Jones, and Will Smith in 2007. Pic: Reuters
Smith said: “Quincy Jones is the true definition of a mentor, a father and a friend. He pointed me toward the greatest parts of myself. He defended me. He nurtured me.
“He encouraged me. He inspired me. He checked me when he needed to. He let me use his wings until mine were strong enough to fly.”
Chic co-founder Nile Rodgers, who was friends with Jones, shared a video that said “Rest In Power Quincy Jones. The Greatest of All Time”.
Peter Hook, the bassist and co-founder of Joy Division and New Order, wrote on social media: “It’s so sad to hear about Quincy Jones. When he signed us to his label, he made us feel so welcome – inviting us to dinner at his home every time we were in town.
“He made us big in America. He was so humble & sweet that you immediately fell in love with him.”
Hook added: “And to this day I still got a lovely message from him every year on Christmas and birthday cards! A musical genius and a great, lovely man.”
Amy Dowden will not take part in the rest of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.
The professional dancer made a return to the celebrity contest this series after undergoing treatment for breast cancer and had been partnered with JLS star JB Gill.
However, the 34-year-old has now had to pull out of the competition due to a foot injury.
In a statement on Instagram, she said: “I’m so sad, so upset and asking why me, why now that our journey has been cut short.
“My heart right now is breaking having to pull out of the competition due to a foot injury.”
Dowden added: “I know only too well ‘this too shall pass’ and I’ll be soon better and back dancing. Something I’ve had to get used to in my life. I’m sure at some point we will dance again JB.
“To all the fans, to my loved ones, my strictly family thank you.”
JB Gill and Amy Dowden. Pic: BBC/Ray Burmiston
A spokeswoman for Strictly added: “Sadly, Amy Dowden MBE will not be partaking in the rest of the competition this year.
“Whilst Amy focuses on her recovery following a foot injury, fellow professional dancer Lauren Oakley will step in as JB’s dance partner.
“The health and wellbeing of everyone involved in Strictly are always the utmost priority. The whole Strictly family sends Amy love and well wishes.”
The news was first announced on Monday evening during the show’s spin-off programme Strictly: It Takes Two.
Lauren Oakley partnered with Krishnan Guru-Murthy last year.
Pic: PA
Dowden was taken ill during the live show the previous weekend and missed the Sunday results programme.
She was taken to hospital from the BBC show’s production centre, Elstree Studios, as a “precaution” after “feeling unwell”, a spokesman for Dowden said at the time.
Last year, Dowden found a lump in her breast while on her honeymoon in the Maldives with fellow professional dancer Ben Jones, and was unable to compete on Strictly.
After treatment for stage three breast cancer, she announced in February that tests showed she had “no evidence of disease“.
Read more from Sky News:
Tributes paid to Quincy Jones
Dawson’s Creek star shares cancer diagnosis
Trump and Harris hold final rallies
Dowden was made an MBE in this year’s New Year’s honours list for services to fundraising and raising awareness of Crohn’s. She was diagnosed with the disease as a teenager and is a UK ambassador for the charity Crohn’s and Colitis.
She was also admitted to hospital in Manchester following a Crohn’s flare-up during the 2022 Strictly live tour.
Dowden also said in her statement that in the past few months she had “finally felt like me again”.
She added: “Cancer was no longer the first thing I thought of when I woke up. It was choreography, music choices, which dances in which order, what we needed to work on. I felt free again.
“My goal since hearing those words you have cancer was to get back on the strictly dance floor. It’s been such a challenge to get back.”
Dowden also praised JB Gill for being the “perfect partner” on the dancefloor.
“I know you and Lauren will continue to ace that dance floor. I’ll forever be your biggest cheerleader,” she added.
Quincy Jones, the music producer and composer, has died at the age of 91.
Jones worked with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and many other artists.
Among his best-known credits was as the producer of Jackson’s historic Thriller album.
Jones oversaw the all-star recording of the 1985 charity record We Are The World.
He also composed the soundtrack to the hit 1969 British film The Italian Job, starring Michael Caine.
Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones. Pic: Ralph Dominguez/MediaPunch /IPX/AP
Naomi Campbell, left, and Claudia Schiffer flank Quincy Jones. Pic: AP
His publicist, Arnold Robinson, confirmed Jones died at his Los Angeles home on Sunday surrounded by his family.
In a statement, his family said: “Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’s passing.
“And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”
Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. Pic: AP
Quincy Jones and Peggy Lipton. Pic: Ralph Dominguez/MediaPunch /IPX/AP
His family added Jones was “truly one of a kind” who they would “miss dearly”.
“We take comfort and immense pride in knowing that the love and joy, that were the essence of his being, was shared with the world through all that he created,” they added.
“Through his music and his boundless love, Quincy Jones’s heart will beat for eternity.”
His career, which spans more than 75 years, saw him achieve 28 Grammy award wins out of 80 nominations.
He was named one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century by Time magazine.
Lionel Richie, who co-wrote We Are The World and was among the charity single’s featured singers, called Jones “the master orchestrator”.
Read more from Sky News:
Shocking moments from US election campaign
Elon Musk weighs in on euthanised squirrel row
Jones, a father of seven, was married three times to Jeri Caldwell, Ulla Andersson and Peggy Lipton.
His children include music producer Quincy Jones III and actress Rashida Jones, known for Parks And Recreation and the US version of The Office.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports7 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway