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Zedbazi
Background information
Origin	Tehran, Iran[1]
Genres	Hip hop gangsta rap pop rap
Years active	2002–2014; 2020–present
Members	Sohrab Mj Saman Wilson (founder) Mehrad Hidden Alireza JJ
Past members	Nassim Sijal

Zedbazi (Persian: زدبازی) is an Iranian hip hop band, formed by longtime friends Saman Wilson and Mehrad Hidden, with Sohrab MJ joining soon after and later joined by Sijal, Alireza JJ and Nassim. In a 2022 concert, the founder of the group (Saman Wilson) announced the group's two new members, Sepehr Khalse and Behzad Leito.

They are known as the pioneers of gangsta rap in Iran.^[2][3] The band's most famous song, "Tabestoon Kootahe", is largely credited as the first widely heard piece of Persian rap.

The band was officially suspended in October 2014 for personal reasons.

On May 20, 2020, Zedbazi announced that the group was resuming activities on their Instagram page. Shortly after, on June 10, 2020, they released two singles, "Yakh" (یخ; meaning ice), a diss track to Moltafet band and Hichkas; and "Bache Mahal" (بچه محل; meaning "neighbourhood guy"), talking about their past path to becoming famous from the beginning of Persian rap in Iran. The songs were released on Radio Javan.^[4]

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

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."^[5]

The name Zedbazi (زدبازی – Zedbāzi) consists of the words zed ("Z", the first letter of Zākhār meaning mate) and bāzi ("play"). It is what Saman and his friends used to call each other in high school,^[5] 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 emerged at the same time as Hichkas, and rapidly garnered huge popularity among the Iranian youth due to their controversial lyrics, littered with profanities and depictions of sexual encounters and drug use.^[6][7]

"Tabestoon Kootahe" is considered Zedbazi's most popular song, and was released in September 2007. It is about "the bittersweet feeling" of summertime in Iran.^[6]

In October 2014, the band announced a separation, due to some internal disagreements. Saman Wilson, who had not been performing on the band's songs after "Tabestoon Kootahe",^[5] 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.

Zedbazi announced their return to Persian rap in June 2020 by releasing two tracks ("Yakh" and "Bache Mahal").^[8]

The first single track of this band is "Diss ajili" or in English "Nut diss", published in 2003 by Saman Wilson, the lone singer on this track. The track's main melody is taken from "Without Me" by Eminem.

Until 2012, the band had not released 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, which featured 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. It included 19 tracks. The two other volumes are said to be released in the 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 a featured composer. Toonel was composed/produced by Mehrad Hidden and Canis and mastered by Iman Tanha. It included 11 tracks in the rock and hip-hop genres. It was sponsored by Bose and released on Spotify, SoundCloud, and Radio Javan.

The album Sefr (صفر), presented by Mehrad Hidden, was released on November 11, 2018, with Arash Rassek as co-producer, Iman Tanha as mix and mastering engineer and Imane as the cover artist. It included nine tracks in the rock genre, and was released on Spotify, SoundCloud, and Radio Javan.

The EP album Salakh (سلاخ), presented by Mehrad Hidden, was released on February 27, 2019. It included six tracks in the new age genre, and was released on Apple Music and Spotify.

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, and Sijal as featured artists. Toonel vol.2 was composed/produced by Canis and mastered by Shung. It included 14 tracks in the rock and hip-hop genres, in association with Tenzu Music. It was released on Apple Music, Spotify, and Radio Javan.

The EP Alavis presented by Mehrad Hidden and HEEN was realised on February 17, 2021. It included two tracks in the electronic genre, and was released on Apple Music, Spotify, and SoundCloud.

In 2022 he released an album collaborating with Moody Mousavi called Zoozanaghe, containing 14 tracks, on Apple Music and Spotify.^[10]

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

Sohrab MJ released his second album, Zakhare Asli, on April 1, 2021. Alisam, Jawaheri, Ali K, Tazad, Cepehri, Mehrad Hidden, Arman Miladi, Alireza JJ, and Mr.MP were responsible for the production of the album. Zakhare Asli includes ten tracks and a bonus track (only for physical packs) with Saman Wilson, Mehrad Hidden, Ali K, Sijal, Amir Tataloo, Arash Saretan, Hoomaan, Sepehr 3NIK, Sepehr Khalse, Sina Mafee, Alireza JJ, Sayan YO, Tarin, I.Da, Maslak, and Merzhak as guest artists.

Behzad Leito and Sepehr Khalse were added to Zedbazi by Saman Wilson in 2022. They had had several other featurings with Zedbazi in the past. The group was named Z7 (Persian: زِد سِوِن) after they were added.^[11]