Bahram

Biography

Bahram Nouraei (Persian: بهرام نورائی; born 25 April 1988), professionally known as Bahram (Persian: بهرام), is an Iranian hip hop recording artist and record producer from Tehran. He is based in Stockholm, Sweden.
Nouraei is associated with the Iranian hip hop and underground music scenes. What'sUp Iran described him as one of the leading figures in Iranian underground hip hop and included him among 50 people considered influential in the cultural landscape of the Middle East.

Music career

Bahram Nouraei's first breakthrough hit was a political single track called "Nameyee Be Rayees Jomhour" (in English: A letter to the president) in 2007 which was written in the form of an open letter criticizing the sixth president of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His debut album "24 Sa'at" (In Persian: 24 ساعت) (In English: 24 Hours) released in August 2008 containing the track "Inja Irane" (In Persian: اینجا ایرانه) (In English: Here's Iran) which is described as a powerful commentary on modern-day of Iran by Rolling Stone.
His second studio album "Sokoot" (In Persian: سکوت) (In English: Silence) released in 2011 containing the first Iranian abstract hip hop track called "Khorshid Khanoom" (In Persian: خورشید خانم) (In English: Lady Sunshine) written in the form of a monologue with the sun in a chronological order.

Good Mistake

Bahram's third LP album "Eshtebahe Khoob" (In Persian: اشتباه خوب) (In English: Good Mistake) is the first Iranian concept album ever made using reverse chronology as the storytelling method. The album has been commonly produced by Bahram Nouraei and Mahdyar Aghajani and sponsored by Cultures of Resistance Network Foundation. Good Mistake is independently released on 4th of July 2015 and ranked #4 and #6 on Billboard's Top World Albums Chart for the last two weeks of July 2015. The project is also followed by a collection of artworks designed exclusively for each and every track in order to provide visual interpretations for the album.

Gozaar

Bahram's EP album called "Gozaar" (In Persian: گذار) (In English: Transition) was released at the same time as the Iranian New Year (on March 22, 2020). Produced by Nesa Azadikhah, Ashkan Mousavi and Peymandegar.

Khodha

Bahram's LP album called "Khodha" (In Persian: خودها) (In English: Selves) was released by Peeleh on April 13, 2023, produced by Ashkan Mousavi, Peymandegar and Nesa Azadikhah. The album dominated all 12 top spots on SoundCloud Hot&New chart.
Bahram has attempted to explore the concepts of "conscious" and "unconscious" through a conceptual album, using Jung's "Theory of Shadows" Employing metaphors such as the "mirror", "pig" and "self", he delves into societal issues stemming from insufficient self-awareness at the individual level, aiming to address them.

Activism

In 2009 Bahram spent one week in Evin prison which houses political prisoners. Bahram was accused for illegal cultural activism but set free. He has also appeared in a documentary film called "Bahram: An Iranian Rapper" intended to present the underground music scene in Iran and explain the Iranian culture after the Islamic revolution. The film was presented in an independent film festival called San Francisco's Iranian film festival at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) in September 2011.