What does it mean to love your homeland? To be patriotic? While the answer might be relatively straightforward in some contexts (e.g. feeling pride in your nationality, fighting against external enemies), a series of turbulent events in 2026 divided Iranians over their understanding of their vatan (Homeland).
In 2026, Iranians started the year by nation-wide anti-system protests, witnessed the massacre of thousands of protestors by the government, and watched as US-Israeli missile strikes hit multiple sites across the country. The events have forced dissident Iranians to define vatan, to define what it means to be a vatan-parast (literally homeland-worshipper, patriot). Is it patriotic to cheer for the missiles, celebrate the death of the government elite, and hope that war will bring some form of positive change for their homeland? Or to oppose the war, worry that it will turn their homeland to a wreckage? This tension has reconstructed kinship networks, led to hostile interactions between Iranians all over the world, created a complicated love-hate relationship towards the Iranian National Soccer Team during the 2026 World Cup, and as of any other political tension in Iran; has found its way to the rap scene.
In the last 3 decades, rap has infiltrated various layers of Iranian society; attracting people across class, ethnic, gender, and religious divides. The infiltration has gone so far that scholars have argued that rap has become a form of “urban folk” music in Iran (Asadi and Seraji 2025). The art form has never been accepted by the state, but rappers have managed to find creative DIY techniques to produce and distribute their music through illegal channels (Golpushnezhad 2018; Siamdoust 2017). Its widespread popularity, reliance on DIY techniques, and often contentious relationship with the state has made Iranian rap one of the most popular spaces for openly discussing politics in Iran (Vahabli 2025).
As a sociologist interested in the intersection of popular culture and popular politics (and as a rap nerd); I see Iranian rap as a vantage point into Iranian popular political discourse. This essay summarizes some early reflections on various narratives around the war as reflected in Iranian rap. This is not in any way a representative sample of Iranian opinions, but rather a glimpse into how Iranians negotiate their relationship with their vatan (homeland) in the liminal space between bloodshed streets after protests and night skies lit by US-Israeli missiles.
Make Homeland Great Again
021Kid has been possibly one of the most influential voices in creating pro-war narratives in the Iranian rap scene. He started rapping at an early age in park cyphers in Tehran and later gained recognition after moving to the United Kingdom by blending Iranian rap with UK drill. He is widely considered to be one of the key co-founders of the fourth-generation wave of Iranian rap. He brought his unique 4th Generation blend of UK drill and Iranian rap to three pro-Pahlavi protest songs and two pro-war songs.
The 2025-2026 protests witnessed significant support for Reza Pahlavi, son of the last Pahlavi Monarch before the Islamic Revolution, by many chanting “This is the last fight, Pahlavi will return” in the streets. The support particularly peaked during 8th and 9th of January when Pahlavi called his supporters to the street. In diaspora, Pahlavi has been able to organize large protests asking the United States and Israel to intervene by military means to support Iranian dissidents.
The contemporary pro-Pahlavi movement has significant ties and affinities with the Make America Great Again (MAGA) and pro-Israel movements (Keshavarzian and Stewart 2025). The affinity is clear in 021Kid songs, particularly in Harbu Darbu (Persian Remix). Early in May 2026, 021Kid released a Persian remix of the Israeli song Harbu Darbu (Wreaking havoc in contemporary Israeli slang) released by Ness and Stilla back in November 2023. The original song is a pro-Israel song encapsulating “a feeling of righteous fury that has been prevalent in Israel” according to the Times of Israel. [1]
In the Persian Remix, 021Kid adds a couple of Persian verses to the song. He starts the song by rapping:
“This is a historical turning point for Iran
This month scored too many points on the opps
Them lots who betray the vatan
Got turned into “kotlet” these days.”
The expression “Turning into kotlet” emerged on Iranian social media after the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) military officer, in 2020 by the United States. 021Kid himself translates the saying as “in colloquial usage, people use “kotlet shodan” (to become a kotlet) as a harsh, figurative expression to refer to someone being killed in an explosion or violent incident—implying their body was blown apart or flattened like a kotlet.”[2] Here, 021Kid extends this expression by using it for other Islamic Republic officials who have been killed during the war. The ending of the song lists multiple Islamic Republic officials, including Khamenei, to all have been turned to a kotlet.
021Kid is not alone in fostering this narrative. Hamed Fard, a rapper mostly known for his political songs, has released 16 songs in the first half of 2026 with a similar narrative! In Bezan Ke Khoob Mizani (Attack, you are doing it so well) he blends rap with pro-Islamic Republic music genres to mock the government by thanking Benjamin Netanyahu for the attacks.
Similar pro-war and pro-Pahlavi narratives have been widely shared by many other influential rappers particularly rappers such as Catchybeats, Koorosh, Arta, and Riri. They frequently attended pro-Pahlavi diasporic protests and gave voice to the contemporary Pro-Pahlavi Make Iran Great Again (MIGA) movement, embedded in the global right-wing alliance between the United States and Israel.
The popularity of this narrative in diasporic rappers does not necessarily mean that all, or the majority, of diasporic Iranians align themselves with such a narrative.
Hamed Fard and 021G in London
For them, supporting their homeland means supporting the war. As 021Kid expressed in Harbu Darbu, it is the ones who betrayed the homeland that are in fact the targets of the attack; not the homeland or true patriotic Iranians fighting the government. The resonance of this narrative cannot be understood independently than the massacre of 8th and 9th of January. Supporters often argue that the massacre proved that Iranians themselves cannot single-handedly actualize a revolution, even with millions of protestors. Hence, they need external support. Both rappers directly justify their support for war on the basis of the massacre. In Lion Sun (a symbolism largely considered to be a symbol of Pahlavi Monarchy) 021Kid raps:
“We swear by the blood of our fallen comrades,
We will resist till the end.”
My Homeland, Not Yours
The Make Homeland Great Again narratives did not go by without contestation in the rap scene. Toomaj Salehi, an Iran-based rapper largely known for his political activity and imprisonment, directly attacked such diasporic actors in his song To Chi? (What About You?). He specifically criticizes diasporic political actors, such as 021Kid and Reza Pahlavi, to treat dissidents residing in Iran like pawns in their political game. He raps:
“It is a war for us; it is just a fun game for you
It will bring money for you, but arrest/torture for us.
If you are not in our position, don’t give us orders.
Especially through satellite TV channels or your mobile phone.”
Many interpreted his songs to be direct criticism of Reza Pahlavi and his continuous call for protests. Some other rappers residing in Iran have shared a similar narrative. Daygard, former co-founder of rap collective Pelak, shares his experience in the turbulent times in Soroode Shahri (Urban Song). He directly calls the diaspora outdated and self-righteous:
“Tell me, what is the color of your last memory from vatan?
How many lives do you need to consume for your own survival?
The pain and death of people is just news for you.
…
Toxic diaspora,
Mindless individuals
You lost the fight with an imaginary enemy
Don’t talk about freedom, you betrayed us.
It was us living here which performed the Urban Song.”
Toomaj and Daygard’s narrative emerges in criticizing 021Kid and Hamed Fard’s narrative. As 021Kid and Hamed Fard invite Iranian dissidents to protest more and support the war, Toomaj and Daygard argue that diasporic actors should not have a say in contemporary Iranian politics since they do not have enough skin in the game. Neither discuss the war explicitly, or mention the United States, Israel, or the Islamic Republic. They focus their narrative on criticizing the diaspora. This emphasis on anti-diaspora (particularly Pahlavi) sentiment rather than explicitly criticizing the government for the 8th and 9th massacre extensively has made Pahlavi supporters call Toomaj a government agent.
It is worth mentioning that interpreting the narratives of rappers residing in Iran is impossible without paying attention to layers of Islamic Republic’s repression. While both rappers have previously risked their safety by criticizing the government in their song multiple times, directly criticizing the government at the heightened security climate during the war is extremely risky. Additionally, the rarity of public and explicit pro-war and pro-Pahlavi narratives in rappers residing in Iran should not be taken as a sign for their absence for the same reason. Public and explicit support for war is punishable by death through treason charges.
Homeland, still standing!
Although neither Toomaj nor Daygard support the Islamic Republic, Poori, another co-founder of 4th Generation Iranian rap, publicizes a pro-government narrative. In Sarpaa (Standing) he relies on a pro-Islamic Republic militant narrative to showcase his power:
“I’m still standing,
Like Milad Tower,
After the terror of government elites.
I’m still standing,
Like the rocket launcher at the war zone.”
The cover art depicts him and his crew on boats in an unidentified body of water. The imaging possibly signals towards the military conflicts at the Straight of Hormuz. Although he addresses the damages of the war, he re-tells the Islamic Republic’s narrative of the war: We have been hit, but we are still standing.
The Iranian hip-hop community often defines itself in defiance of the Islamic Republic. Rappers such as Poori with high narrative affinity with the Islamic Republic are often excluded from the community. Despite this internal self-regulation dynamics, after years of expansion, the government has slowly started embracing the art form. Particularly, if the rappers rap in their support. Pro-government rappers are largely not considered to be a part of the “Iranian hip-hop community,” but rather a part of the state propaganda apparatus. Some of these unnamed rappers performed in state-organized pro-government demonstrations during the war.
Fractured Homeland
Beyond narratives that explicitly address the political tensions of 2026, many rappers reside in hiding their stance beyond layers of metaphors and implicit language. This form of engagement with politics in Iranian rap is a long-established form of political discourse in Iranian popular culture. I previously have labeled this form of engagement as “Sad Eastern,” where rappers focus on their personal grievances by emphasizing on hopelessness and melancholy without explicitly addressing the causes of their grievances (Vahabli 2025).
Mersad, a rising star in a newly formed alternative rap subscene, re-tells the story of 2026 in Golchin404 (Selected songs, 2026). During the total internet shutdown in the midst of war, he went back to the roots of the DIY techniques of Iranian rap and burned his new song collection on DVDs. The song narrates the confusion, the hopelessness, and the realization of ephemerality of life through experiencing protests, massacre, and war. Implicitly discussing the protests and the massacre, he raps:
“Every time that we gathered believing that we are going to win this time,
We lost more people, the more we showed up”
He then raps about how buildings fall so easily like “Lego pieces,” and later concludes the song by the heavy weight of the ephemerality of life. On how life was much better before learning about death, and how the only mandatory thing in life is living.
Similar to Mersad, Kixty faces a realization about ephemerality of life. Kixty, a genre-bending rising artist, starts his new love song BAD AZ tO (After You) with a short monologue about ephemerality of life. According to the monologue, no one knows if anyone in this city is going to live one more minute or not.
Labeat, Vatani, Kaen, and Saar share their Sad Eastern narrative in Naghsh (Design) and Zamine Gard (Round Globe). They emphasize the pain and hatred experienced during these turbulent times, but they are hopeful; believing in a sense of karma.
For these rappers, the homeland is fractured. They are not free to clearly express themselves; but they see the bloodshed streets, the wreckage of the missiles, and the challenges yet to come. Without taking any particular stance, Peygard shares his disdain for the “homeland performances” of all political parties. In Jamahiri (Masses-like, Union-like) he shares a rather ironic conversation:
“What are you up to tonight?” They ask.
“Not much, gonna perform some vatan tonight.” I reply.
For him, it is all a “homeland performance” circus. Whether it is the diasporic pro-war protests or the late-night pro-government rallies, it is all just a meaningless attempt to glue together the broken pieces of the homeland.
I wonder whether he thinks this essay is an attempt to perform homeland or not.
[1] Fiske, Gavriel. “Hip-Hop War Anthem Reaches Number One in Israel.” The Times of Israel, November 21, 2023. https://www.timesofisrael.com/hip-hop-war-anthem-reaches-number-one-in-israel/.
[2] Instagram. “@021kid on Instagram: ‘KOTLET PARTY 💥☠️ Kotlet (کتلت) in Persian Originally Refers to a Homemade Dish However, in Colloquial Usage, People Use “Kotlet Shodan” (to Become a Kotlet) as a Harsh, Figurative Expression to Refer to Someone Being Killed in an Explosion or Violent Incident—Implying Their Body Was Blown Apart or Flattened like a Kotlet.’.” May 4, 2026. https://www.instagram.com/021kid/reel/DX6-xp2Iysd/.