Rap was a way to start. What came after was research, talks, and a clear stance — no performance, just evidence.
In recent years, another channel opened up: talks, research, analysis. Documented essays on Medium — Persian linguistic history, Iran's constitutional law, and the archaeology of Iranian civilization.
These aren't casual opinion pieces — they're arguments built on primary sources, the work of someone who has spent years reading seriously across several fields. Video talks on Iranian identity, the myth of Jamshid, the political structure of the Islamic Republic, and the meaning of Nowruz have found audiences far beyond the world of rap.
When the 2025–2026 Iranian protests began — known among Iranians as the Lion and Sun revolution — Shayan had only been back in Persian rap for about two years.
During the protests, Iran's internet was cut for nearly three months. Shayan kept posting anyway, and his content took on a new register alongside the music: direct commentary and analysis, a voice for people who, in those weeks, were barely able to be heard at all.
Some of those videos reached far beyond his usual audience — including one addressing Roger Waters directly. One video in particular reached a far larger audience than anything he'd posted before: close to two million views. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and Shayan decided to keep that kind of commentary going — fully aware of the real and serious risk it carries for him.
This is a political position built from years of studying Iran's constitutional history and comparative governance, not nostalgia. Iranians deserve a law that belongs to human beings, regardless of religion, ethnicity, or political belief.
Shayan has studied the texts of multiple religions and arrived at the conviction that faith is a personal matter. As a Shia Muslim, he's one of millions of Muslims who oppose clerical rule and support freedom of belief for everyone.
Cyrus the Great was great, and Shayan admires him too. But Jamshid is older — the figure Ferdowsi, Hafez, and Saadi return to when they reach for the deepest layer of Iranian identity. One doesn't replace the other; Jamshid just points to an older root.
Iran today isn't the Iran of 2001. The protests have reshaped the conversation. Shayan speaks now, not as an analyst with a party card, but as someone who was born in that city, studied there, and built something real from nothing.
Persian rap, in service of the people's revolution — Lion and Sun.
— Shayan SarkeshThis is Shayan's personal position — rap as a weapon in service of a cause he believes in himself.