Iranian hard-liners are scratching their heads, trying to figure out how they blew the May 19 presidential elections. They have claimed that the vote was rigged and have been in denial over pragmatist incumbent Hassan Rouhani’s sweeping victory, but whispers of another sort have also been heard. Some believe a rapper may have been the reason hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi lost his shot at the presidency.

It was a strange sight for Iranians: the rapper Amir Hossein Maghsoudlou, with sleeves of tattoos extending to his hands, sitting beside an awkwardly smiling Raisi, who was dressed in somber black robes. The rapper, also known as Amir Tataloo, is famous for his songs about life and love, but it is his bad boy appearance that leaves his 4 million Instagram and 1.2 million Facebook fans, called Tatalees, swooning and conservatives shaking their heads. At one point, the rapper had long hair, a chin piercing, and to top it all off, he sometimes accessorized with a cross. All in all, a tough sell for Iran’s hard-liners.

Tataloo and Raisi make an odd couple. Tataloo began his career a decade ago as an underground musician, publishing performances and albums online because he didn't have a license from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. Raisi is the custodian of the shrine of Reza, the eighth Shiite imam, in Mashhad, with close ties to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and intelligence circles. Tataloo has twice been arrested, once in 2013, for appearing on illegal satellite channels — diaspora Persian music networks — and again in August 2016, after which he was imprisoned for 62 days for “encouraging corruption and prostitution among the youth” through his music.

In one video of the Tataloo-Raisi meeting, held days before the vote, Tataloo asked Raisi if he could film a music video in the Imam Reza shrine, but the footage is cut before Raisi responds. A rumor began to circulate that Tataloo had been granted permission to hold a concert at the shrine. Such an event would have been contrary to the approach of Raisi’s father-in-law, Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader in Mashhad, who does not even allow traditional music concerts in the city. After the meeting, Raisi campaign events and gatherings blasted Tataloo songs on loudspeakers.