Following the Islamic Revolution of 1979, dance and some types of music have been considered illegal by the Iranian government. Female singers are not permitted to have any activities in Iran. After Islamic clerics took power, they declared that female voices corrupted Iranian men.
Therefore, due to these circumstances, some Iranian singers and musicians went to the United States to continue their performances and musical careers. The majority of them have settled in Los Angeles, California.
After the Revolution, for example, Iran’s most famous female pop singer, Googoosh (also called the Queen of Pop) was banned from public performance like most other female singers. Nevertheless, the talented and popular pop diva made a comeback in 2000 on a world tour and is currently based in Canada.
With most female singing forbidden by Iranian authorities, aggravated young Iranians (and there are many…) are tuning nowadays in to a mysterious voice that, according to them, symbolizes the notion of “freedom”. “DJ Maryam”, as she is called, is probably the hottest singer in today’s young Iranian music scene.
In Iran, women can only sing for other women, with a special license from the country’s Ministry of Culture and Guidance. They are allowed to sing in choirs or accompany other male singers in groups, but the lone female voice is considered too provocative. A woman's voice, just like her hair, needs to be hidden from men because it is too much of a turn-on.
The banning of female singing does not indicate that men and women do not, de facto, listen to female singers. The contrary is true. There are ways to get around every social restriction. A flourishing Iranian music industry based in Los Angeles produces the latest pop music, which is widely disseminated in Iran through satellite TV and radio, as well as black market CDs and tapes.
The female DJ Maryam’s voice sounds distinctive to those who listen to it: techno-computerized, but still perfectly sweet. Her name is DJ Maryam and she is from Tehran. According to locals, authorities had caught her singing at a party, took her away and pulled out all her teeth and have been holding her ever since.
The entire issue of singing in Islam is surely controversial, whether it is with musical accompaniment or not. Some issues succeeded to gain the Muslim scholars’ agreement, while others failed. It is clear, however, that all Muslim scholars have a unanimous view on the prohibition of all forms of singing and music that incites debauchery, indecency, or sin.
In October, DJ Maryam, in an attempt to clear her name and put an end to rumors, gave an interview with BBC Farsi radio. The beautiful musician said that she is in fact an 18-year-old "moloodi" (religious/mystic music) singer who only performs for women. She complained that her music had been recorded and disseminated without her permission, and that rumors of her arrest were baseless.
Although she sings and dances to techno-pop, she says, she is a devout Muslim who would never perform in front of a mixed audience. She likes this genre of music because it has movement in it, and that is what is needed for progress, according to her.
Furthermore, during the interview, the woman said that DJ Maryam is not her real name. When asked what her real name is, she says, "My name is Mahshar, daughter of the sun and the earth and sister of water and air." Whatever her real identity, this young artist has certainly become a pop idol in a nation where half of the population is under 25 years old. Whether her true identity will ever be revealed is quite unclear, but it is obvious that her existence, whoever she may be, and her growing popularity among young Iranians symbolize a yearning for change and reform in Iran.
