Iran’s Underground Rappers Wear Symbol of Islamic Revolution
The chafiyeh, the white-and-black scarf worn by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and loyal adherents of the Iranian revolution for nearly 30 years, has taken on a new meaning in Iran these days. It is the newest fashion craze in Iran’s underground rap scene. Young Iranians who have taken up an interest in western pop–satanic music to the regime–have begun wearing the holy symbol of the Islamic revolution at shows and in video clips. But it is not just the rappers that have taken up this new fashion trend, although it is the most ironic, due to the government’s recent campaign against the genre. Advertisements also show it on models as a regular accessory. Young men and women in the streets wear it casually without regard for its history. The scarf gained its holy place in the Islamic Republic during the Iran-Iraq war and it took on varied uses–as burial shrouds, make-shift gas masks, and handcuffs. However, its newer uses have relegated it to an artifact of Iranian pop culture rather than Islamic history.
Bridget Russell
