Aspiring Iranian Rap Star September 1, 2016

[Martin Hash]

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In Isfahan, in central Iran, past the nuclear fuel enrichment facility whose suspension of operation allowed us to come, Americans are accepted like no place else. The odd thing is, every other shop is an athletics store, and the people are known for weight-lifting & body-building. There are also women's clothing stores with modern Western styles that apparently women can wear to the gym behind a canvas barrier that says “No Men Allowed,” which probably explains all the athletics stores.

The people admire America too, and want to go there. A preteen who expressed his enthusiasm in astronomy told us his plan was to go to America & work for NASA. And an older teenager, Hamed, who wanted us to call him “Homey,” was wearing a black Tupac t-shirt. He wants to come to America and be a rapper. He made a demo song which he shared with us that includes all the appropriate words. His English has a ghetto accent because he learned to speak it by listening to the music over-n-over, repeating every word as the English lyrics appeared on his Smartphone. He asked me in all sincerity if I thought it was possible that for him to make rap music, get famous, get rich, and end shot? I said, sure, anything's possible in America. He got a big smile, and in all seriousness, said he has to first finish school then do two mandatory years in the military before he could get started. I reassured him that by that time relations between Iran & America would be normalized & he could come to California to be a West Coast Boy. (He already knows the gang hand-sign for it.)

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