Zedbazi

The Foundation of the band dates back to early 2002. It was started up by Saman Rezapour (Saman Wilson) and Mehrad Mostofi-Rad (Mehrad Hidden), who were friends in a high school in Tehran. Despite having older experiences in music, the formation of the band as in a hip hop style was motivated by Saman's cover of Eminem's Without Me, which was performed with a matched vulgar lyrics written in Persian. After moving to London, they met Sohrab Mostavafi (Sohrab MJ) in a summer school, where he joined the band after collaborating on Kal Kal (کل‌کل – Kal-kal, "Argue"), a cover of D12's Rap Game.

The first collaboration of Siavash Jalali (Sijal) and Alireza Jazayeri (Alireza JJ) with the band's earlier members was Berim Faza (بریم فضا – Berim Fazā, "(Let's) Go to Space"), produced by Alireza JJ in 2005. Siavash and Alireza were best friends in Paris, where they had also met Nassim Parize, an Iranian finalist at the French reality TV show Star Academy (Season 5) with her twin sister, Neissa.

The three future band members officially joined Zedbazi by releasing Tabestoon Kootahe (تابستون کوتاهه – Tābestun Kutāh e, "Summer is Short") in September 2007. They brought a new style into the band, as Mehrad Hidden remarks in Ardeshir Ahmadi's Zedbazi Documentary. "The formula they brought was different than ours. Our formula was necessary for the inception, theirs was necessary for the continuation."[4]

The name Zedbazi (زدبازی – Zedbāzi) consists of the words zed ("Z", the first letter of zakhar meaning mate) and bāzi ("play"). It is what Saman and his friends used to call each other in high school,[4] and according to the band, it can mean both "an old and close friend" and "an old-fashioned and fusty person"; it depends on the purpose. Therefore, Zedbazi can be translated as "the zakhar acts."

Zedbazi in the Iranian Intergalactic Music Festival (October 22, 2006).

Zedbazi emerged at the same time as Hichkas, and rapidly garnered a huge popularity between the youth, due to their controversial lyrics, littered with profanities, depictions of sexual encounters and drug use.[5]

Tabestoon Kootahe is considered as Zedbazi's most popular song, which was released in September 2007. It is about "the bittersweet feeling" of summertime in Iran.[5]

In October 2014, the band announced a separation between the members. It was due to some internal disagreements. Saman Wilson, who had not been attending to the band's songs after Tabestoon Kootahe,[4] returned and joined Mehrad Hidden, forming a new band named Bozorg (بزرگ – Bozorg, "Great"). Alireza JJ, Sijal, and Nassim decided to work together, and Sohrab MJ worked alone. They returned to Persian Rap in June 2020 by releasing two tracks.[6]

Allegations have existed about Zedbazi's ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guards.[7] In March 2020, a video emerged on Iranian social media showing one of the lead vocalists of Zedbazi, Sohrab MJ attending an event in one of the Rahian-e Noor zones.[8] Rahian-e Noor events are typically attended and run by members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Basiji milita.[9] Despite rap being banned in Iran, members of the group travel back and forth between Europe and Iran regularly.[10] The June 2020 song released by Mahdyar and Fadaei Dige Tablo Shode ( دیگه تابلو شده; meaning "it's very obvious") examines some of these controversies.[11]

Until 2012, the band had yet to release an album, and their songs were provided as singles.

Their first studio album, Zakhar Nameh (زاخارنامه – Zāxār Nāme, "The Zakhar Book"), was released on June 4, 2012. All of the band members, except Saman Wilson, were involved in the album, featuring Hichkas, Behzad Leito and Arash Dara.

On July 28, 2014, the album Pir Shodim Vali Bozorg Na (پیر شدیم ولی بزرگ نه – Pir Ŝodim Vali Bozorg Na, "Got Old But Didn't Grow-Up") was released, including only three members of the band (Alireza JJ, Sijal and Nassim) and without the record label of Zedbazi. It was composed by Alireza JJ and DJ AFX, and included Behzad Leito, Paya, Erfan, Sepehr Khalse, Sina Mafee, Magico and Cornellaa as featured artists.

The album Bozorg: Vol. 2 (بزرگ: ولوم 2 – Bozorg: Volume 2), presented by Bozorg (Saman Wilson and Mehrad Hidden), was released on February 27, 2015; with Sohrab MJ, Arash Dara, Tara Salahi, Kiarash, and Siamak as featured artists. It was composed by Mehrad Hidden, Arash Dara, and DJ Rassek and mastered by Iman Tanha; including 19 tracks .The 2 other volumes are said to be released in future.

The album Toonel vol.1 (تونل جلد 1), presented by Mehrad Hidden was released on February 2, 2017; with Saman Wilson, , Sohrab MJ, Zakhmi, Arash Dara, Sijal and Canis as featured artists and DJ Rassek as featured composer. Toonel was Composed/produced by Mehrad Hidden and Canis and mastered by Iman Tanha; including 11 tracks in genre of Rock and Hip-Hop and sponsored by Bose.

The album Toonel vol.2 (تونل جلد 2), presented by Mehrad Hidden was released on August 14, 2020; with Pozx, , Arash Dara, , Shayea, , Saman Wilson, , Zakhmi, , Canis, , Amirali, , Sohrab MJ, , Tara Salahi, ,Sijal as featured artists. Toonel vol.2 was Composed/produced by Canis and mastered by Shung; including 14 tracks in genre of Rock and Hip-Hop and in association with Tenzu Music.

Sohrab MJ released his first album, Yeksin, on September 20, 2017. Alireza JJ is responsible for the production of the album while producing four tracks, and Khashayar Sr producing the remaining track. Yeksin Includes five tracks with guest artists from Zedbazi (every member excluding Saman Wilson) and Behzad Leito.