Despite the Iranian authorities’ silencing of artist Sherwin Hajipour, his famous song “Bray”, which turned into an anthem for popular protests following the killing of Mahsa Amini, won the international “Grammy” award for “Best Song for Social Change”.
And in the first comment from the owner of the song about the award, which he won, he wrote through his “Instagram” accounts, yesterday, Monday, “We won,” with an emoji of the music logo and a white heart.
On Sunday, US First Lady Jill Biden announced the winner by describing the song as “a powerful and poetic call for freedom and women’s rights.”
She continued, “This song became an anthem for Mahsa Amini’s protests, a powerful and poetic call for women’s rights… Sherwin was arrested but this song continues to resonate around the world with its powerful theme – women, life, freedom.”
In turn, the US Special Envoy for Iran Affairs, Robert Malley, praised the Iranian artist’s song, describing it as “inspiring,” stressing that awarding the “Grammy” award to Hajipour reflects “the world’s respect for the Iranian people.”
The song was released in response to protests that began last September with the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was in the custody of Iran’s morality police for allegedly wearing an “indecent veil”.
Delete.. and arrest
And “Brai”, which means “for” in Persian, recorded 40 million views on Instagram before it was deleted with the arrest of the famous pop singer, who was announced after his later release on bail.
The lyrics of the song shed light on the hardships that Iranians suffer due to poor economic and living management in the country and their deprivation of simple life matters.
“For dancing in the streets, for the fear we feel while kissing, for my sister and your sister and your sisters, because of the embarrassment of an empty pocket, because we long for a normal life (…) and because of this polluted air,” she says.
The song “Brai” was heard blaring at night from apartment complexes in Iran to show support for the protests. It was also enthusiastically sung by Iranian expatriates at rallies in more than 150 cities around the world.
Participated in the Iranian version of American Idol
And Sherwin Hajipour, a 25-year-old pop singer, appeared in 2019 on the New Era program, the Iranian version of American Idol, before he was eliminated in the last round.
The young Iranian was relatively unknown until he released his song “Bray” on September 28, 2022, which he composed and recorded from his bedroom in the Iranian coastal city of Babolsar.
Two days after he released his song, he was arrested and imprisoned for several days before he was released on bail in early October, and the song no longer appears on his Instagram account.
