In 2001, from a bedroom in Tehran, he recorded the first Persian rap songs in history. Everything since has been building on that.
Shayan Sarkesh — known in his music work as Shayan Vaajkhonya (شایان واژخنیا) — recorded the first Persian rap tracks in history from a bedroom in Tehran in 2001, under the group name Vaajkhonya, a Persian compound he coined meaning roughly "the music of words."
Members of Persian rap's founding generation — Reza Pishro, Yas, Hasin, Hichkas, and Tohi — have all publicly referenced his early work as foundational. Their testimonies, in full, are on the History page.
Shayan holds a degree in surveying engineering from the University of Tehran, where he ranked first nationally in the graduate entrance exam, and a master's in GIS (Geographic Information Systems). He now works as a geospatial data scientist and international education consultant.
He writes, produces, mixes, and masters every track himself. Beyond music, he writes researched essays on Persian history, linguistics, and Iranian constitutional law, and speaks publicly on Iranian identity and politics — advocating for secular constitutional monarchy and religious freedom for all Iranians, regardless of personal faith.

Shayan Sarkesh's latest single, with the official music video and full lyrics. Learn more →
Nine tracks of mythological street rap, opening with "Haji Firouz" and closing with "Moshte Akhar" ("The Last Punch") — drawing on Iranian mythology and street philosophy, written during the year of Iran's protests and the Iran-Israel conflict.
Listen on Spotify Full Discography & LyricsThe full biography, genre history, and complete lyrics live on the pages below — in English or in the original Persian.