'United for Neda' -- Mams Taylor Brings Together Iran's Superstars to Protest Iranian Crackdown
Known
for collaborating with U.S. stars like Snoop Dogg and T-Pain, Iranian-British
recording artist Mams Taylor turned his focus towards his motherland this week
in response to the popular movement for political freedom in
Iran. His song "United For Neda" brings together Iran's
most elite entertainers, poets, thinkers, actors and singers in one harmonious
voice pleading for freedom, featuring three of Iran's most iconic singers
Dariush, Satar and Morteza, and Shoreh Aghdashloo, the Oscar nominated actress
from House of Sand and Fog, in addition to other notable rappers and
poets.
"United For Neda" was written and produced by Taylor who also performs on the
song. Taylor and Iranian actor Shila Vosough have produced a
video for the song, recorded entirely on cell phones to pay homage to the
protestors in Iran who have been reporting back the dire
events taking place in the streets of the country's largest cities. The video
was filmed in part during a protest in Los Angeles last
weekend, where Taylor spoke.
Neda was a young woman who was fatally shot by Iranian shock troops called
the Basiji on June 21. After seeing the extremely disturbing and
graphic video of Neda's death on Facebook, Taylor was moved to respond in the
way he knows best -- through music. He's since spoken in front of 20,000
protesters at the Iranian-American rally in Los Angeles.
His statement about the situation in Tehran has appeared on
AOL's music news page and in the NY Post.
Additional artists featured on the song and video include Vosough, singer
Sussan Deyhim, actor and poet Parviz Sayyad,
Kamy R, the singer from Black Cats, Iran's most popular singing group, rappers
Kamyar & Payam Jaffari and The Kid.
Taylor's album PERSONA NON GRATA, featuring T-Pain, Robbie Williams,
Dave Navarro and others drops this fall. "Girl Gotta Girlfriend" with
Snoop was just added to MTV Jams. It's on regular rotation on scores of rhythmic
radio stations across the U.S., and his online presence in hip-hop's most
influential websites has been massive. Listen to "United for Neda" at
mamstaylor.com. Find him on Facebook, iTunes, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter.
