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Iran's thriving rap culture

Iranian hip-hop artists have made the music genre their own.
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Wearing baggy clothes and starter caps, teenage boys had come to Tehran’s Friday Bazaar to hit on girls. Posing, they threw their hands in the air making gestures — gang signs. The odd concoction of a circle, two fingers and one finger on each hand was symbolic of the Iranian capital’s area code: 021.

021 became the symbol and namesake of Iran’s premier rap clan during the 1990s. Known as Rap-e Farsi, the Tehran movement was established by 021’s lead rapper Soroush Lashkari, better known as Hichkas, or "obody." Today, he is referred to as the father of Iranian rap.

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