Iranian rapper Tataloo once supported a hard-line presidential candidate now he faces execution

The tattoos covering Iranian rapper Tataloo’s face stand out against the gray prison uniform the 37-year-old now wears as he awaits execution, his own rise and fall tracing the chaos of the last decade of Iranian politics.Tataloo, whose full name is Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, faces a death sentence after being convicted on charges of “insulting Islamic sanctities.” It’s a far cry from when he once supported a hard-line Iranian presidential candidate.Tataloo’s music became popular among the Islamic Republic’s youth, as it challenged Iran’s theocracy at a time when opposition to the country’s government was splintered and largely leaderless.The rapper’s lyrics became increasingly political after the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini and the subsequent wave of nationwide protests.He also appeared in music videos which criticized the authorities.“When you show your face in a music video, you are saying, ‘Hey, I’m here, and I don’t care about your restrictions,’” said Ali Hamedani, a former BBC journalist who interviewed the rapper in 2005.

“That was brave.”The Iranian Supreme Court last month upheld his death sentence.“This ruling has now been confirmed and is ready for execution,” judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir told reporters at a press conference last month.Activists have decried his looming execution and expressed concern for his safety after he reportedly tried to kill himself in prison.Tataloo began his music career in 2003 as part of an underground genre of Iranian music that combines Western styles of rap, rhythm-and-blues and rock with Farsi lyrics.His first album, released in 2011, polarized audiences, though he never played publicly in Iran, where its Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance controls all concerts.Tataloo appeared in a 2015 music video backing Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and Tehran’s nuclear program, which long has been targeted by the West over fears it could allow the Islamic Republic to d...