Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo () known professionally as Amir Tataloo (), is an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

singer-songwriter and rapper. Tataloo is the first R&B singer in Iran and also he is part of the first generation of the Iranian underground hip hop scene. His debut album, Zire Hamkaf, was released in 2011. Since then, he has released 16 albums. Tataloo was arrested several times when living in Iran by the Islamic Republic authorities. In 2021, Amir Tataloo released the album Fereshteh by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. He is the first Iranian to collaborate with

Early life

Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, stage name Amir Tataloo, was born in Majidieh,

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

. Due to his father's job, Amir spent his elementary school years in

Rasht Rasht ( fa, رشت, Rašt ; glk, Rəšt, script=Latn; also romanized as Resht and Rast, and often spelt ''Recht'' in French and older German manuscripts) is the capital city of Gilan Province, Iran. Also known as the "City of Rain" (, ''Ŝahre B ...

. After a few years, he moved back to Tehran. Because of his family's financial situation, he decided to work and study simultaneously. From 14 to 16 he worked in a carpenter workshop, and from 16 to 18 worked in a

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

. After finishing high school, he started to pursue music. The beginning of his career began around the same time as other well-known musicians in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

music.

Music career

Tataloo started his music career in 2003, and began by releasing songs on his personal blog. He started as an

underground musician Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, mainstream popular music culture. Underground music is intimately tied to popular music culture as a whole, so there are important tensions within underground ...

, and remains unauthorized by the

Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance ( fa, وزارت فرهنگ و ارشاد اسلامی, ''Vâzart-e Ferheng-e vâ Arshad-e Eslâmi'') ("Ministry of CIG") is the Ministry of Culture of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is responsible ...

. He was described by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine as "A

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

with so many fans" and by

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

as an artist with a "strong fan base" among the youth in Iran. His music style has been described as a "popular flashy blend of pop, rap and R&B". He released a single, "Manam Yeki az un Yazdahtam" (I'm Also One of Those Eleven Players), for the

Iranian National Football Team ) ''(the national team)' other nicknames'' , Badge = Flag_of_Iran.svg , Badge_size = 190px , Association = Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran , FIFA Trigramme = IRN , FIFA Rank ...

during the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. During the Iran/5+1 nuclear talks in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in July 2015, he released a song supporting the

Iranian nuclear program The nuclear program of Iran is an ongoing scientific effort by Iran to research nuclear technology that can be used to make nuclear weapons. Iran has several research sites, two uranium mines, a Nuclear reactor technology, research reactor, an ...

. The music video was produced on the Iranian navy ship ''Damavand''. The song was the top trending

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

search in

. This song became an instant controversy in Iran, mostly for the

Iranian Reformists The Reformists ( fa, اصلاح‌طلبان, Islah, Eslâh-Talabân) are List of political factions in Iran, a political faction in Iran. Iran's "reform era" is sometimes said to have lasted from 1997 to 2005—the length of President Moha ...

, who compared the song to Mohammadreza Shajarian's songs in support of Iranian protests in 2009. In 2015 he attended the Tehran Peace Museum and was praised by the Iran-Iraq war veterans for his music video, Shohada (The Martyrs). He was introduced as the peace ambassador of the museum. In 2018, after several arrests by the Iranian authorities and failing to get a music activity license from the

, Tataloo left Iran and immigrated to Turkey, where he is currently residing.

Tatality

Tatality was name of the Tataloo's 2013 album which also is the name of his

fan base A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significant p ...

. "Tatalities" mostly consist of

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...

who are dedicated to Tataloo. His fans may follow a

lifestyle Lifestyle often refers to: * Lifestyle (sociology), the way a person lives * ''Otium'', ancient Roman concept of a lifestyle * Style of life (german: Lebensstil, link=no), dealing with the dynamics of personality Lifestyle may also refer to: Bu ...

inspired by Tataloo's, including

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

, spiritual routines and

vegan diet Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. D ...

. In 2016, after Tataloo was arrested by Iranian police, his fans protested before the Justice

Court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

and demanded that authorities release him from

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

. After his arrest, an online protest began against arresting artists due to their lyrics and lifestyle choices. They used various hashtags in order to pressure Iranian authorities to release him.

Social media

Tataloo is one of the most popular, yet controversial, Iranian

celebrities Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

. He has a large fan base, as well as critics. Amir Tataloo is the first Iranian who reached 1 million followers on Instagram. In 2021, Tataloo broke the record for most comments on YouTube with 19 million comments. In 2019, Tataloo asked fans to break the record of the most commented post on Instagram, which was 10 million comments. Fans broke the record with 18 million comments. After this, various political critics discussed the

phenomenon A phenomenon ( : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried W ...

and its impact on society. Academics such as

Sadegh Zibakalam Sadegh Zibakalam Mofrad ( fa, صادق زیباکلام, lit=honest eloquent-speaker; born 12 June 1948) is an Iranian academic, author and pundit described as reformist and neo-liberal. Zibakalam is a professor at University of Tehran and appea ...

and Emaddedin Baghi wrote papers on this event. Another record was broken in 2020 where Tataloo hosted a live broadcast that ended up with 626,000 viewers. Among other Iranian singers, he has the most views on Spotify and YouTube.

Personal life

Tataloo is

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

, and is constantly preaching the

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and lifestyle, asking his fans not to kill and eat

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

s. One of his many nicknames is Nature's Son.

Controversies

Nuclear energy song

During the Iran/5+1 nuclear talks in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, in July 2015, he released a song supporting the

. The music video was produced on the Iranian navy ship ''Damavand''. Titled " Energy Hasteei" (), the song's central message was to uphold Iran's right to patrol the Persian Gulf and to produce peaceful nuclear energy. Tataloo's nationalistic song caused controversy among his Iranian fans who respected the artist for his frank, unconformative political and social statements and were surprised to see him appearing to assist the government in their messaging around the nuclear issue.

Discography

Albums

* ''Zire Hamkaf'' (2011) * ''Tatality'' (2013) * ''Man'' (2014) * ''Shomareh 6'' (2015) * ''Mamnoo'e'' (2015) * ''Shomareh 7'' (2016) * ''Ghahreman'' (2017) * ''Amir'' (2017) * ''Sayeh'' (2018) * ''Jahanam'' (2018) * ''Barzakh'' (2019) * ''78'' (2020) * ''Sheytan''(2021) * ''Fereshteh'' (2021) * ''Sahm'' (2022) * ''Boht'' (2022) *''Cosmos'' (2022)

References

External links

* * * * Living people Singers from Tehran 21st-century Iranian male singers Iranian singer-songwriters Iranian rappers Iranian lyricists Iranian composers 1987 births {{DEFAULTSORT:Tataloo, Amir