Shahin Najafi in Anaheim

Shahin Najafi is an Iranian singer, rapper, songwriter and guitarist, born in 1980 in Bandar-e Anzali and based in Germany. He makes Persian-language rap and rock built around political, religious and social subjects. His best-known works include the song “Naghi,” which prompted threats and a religious ruling against him, and the albums Tramadol and Radikal. The documentary When God Sleeps follows his rehearsals and concerts during the years after the controversy around “Naghi,” when security concerns became part of his work on the road. In 2017, he took that exile-era concert history to Israel for a performance at the Barby club in Tel Aviv.