Arash (artist)
Encyclopedia
Arash Labaf is an Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

ian-Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 singer, dancer, entertainer and producer.

Early life

Arash Labaf was born in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...

, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

. At age ten, he and his family moved to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, where he still resides. In an interview with BBC Persian Television, he has mentioned that his mother and father are from the Iranian cities of Shiraz
Shiraz
Shiraz may refer to:* Shiraz, Iran, a city in Iran* Shiraz County, an administrative subdivision of Iran* Vosketap, Armenia, formerly called ShirazPeople:* Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet* Ara Shiraz, Armenian sculptor...

 and Isfahan, respectively. Also in one of his interviews, he stated his great grandfather is Iranian Azeri. In an interview with Arash emphasized: "My great-grandfather was an Azeri so I always feel my Azerbaijani roots.".
Consequently his family moved to Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...

, Sweden. He resides in Malmö when he is not on tour and considers it his hometown.

Career

Arash has said that the reason he chooses to sing in his native language
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

 is because of his "deep attachment to Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 and Persian culture
Culture of Iran
To best understand Iran, Afghanistan, their related societies and their people, one must first attempt to acquire an understanding of their culture. It is in the study of this area where the Persian identity optimally expresses itself...

."

His debut album, Arash, was released by the Warner Music Sweden
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...

 in June 2005, after he had finished college. His singles, "Boro Boro" ("Go Away") and "Temptation" (featuring Rebecca Zadig
Rebecca Zadig
Rebecca Zadig is a Swedish singer.- Career :Rebecca Zadig was featured in Arash's song "Temptation". This song is a newer version of her own song "Temptation" which also featured Arash . Lyrics of the two songs differ considerably...

) made it to the hit lists around Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, and their respective videos garnered significant airplay on more than 20 MTV outlets across the world.

In addition to successes in his home countries' music charts, namely Sweden and Iran, the platinum-selling singer and producer Arash has had hits notably in Eastern European and South-East European charts like Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Turkey and in Asian music charts like in Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and throughout the Arab Middle Eastern countries. His singles have charted many times on Swiss and Finnish charts and he is especially famous in Poland. His song "Boro Boro" was featured in Indian Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 movie Bluffmaster!.

His album Arash was certified gold in 5 countries: Germany, Russia, Slovenia and Greece and in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 for the single "Boro Boro" went gold. This song was also featured in the Hindi Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 film Bluffmaster! and he was the featured Artist of the Month on MTV India
MTV India
MTV India is the Indian version of MTV , a channel specialising in music and youth culture programming. It was launched in 1996 and is now part of the Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd based in Mumbai. . "MTV India" is one of the oldest Music Television Networks in Asia...

. He made a guest appearance in the movie as well as a DJ singing "Boro Boro".

Arash is managed by former Warner Music A&R agent Henrik Uhlmann, and is represented in the United States by Mayar Zokaei
Mayar Zokaei
Mayar Zokaei is an Iranian American sports and entertainment agent currently based in Los Angeles and New York. Zokaei also works as a media and sports journalist and periodically contributes to the Los Angeles Times, and the Los Angeles Daily News.Zokaei is the son of publishing magnate and...

.

Collaborations

Arash's claim to fame, his hit "Temptation" was a collaboration with Swedish singer Rebecca Zadig
Rebecca Zadig
Rebecca Zadig is a Swedish singer.- Career :Rebecca Zadig was featured in Arash's song "Temptation". This song is a newer version of her own song "Temptation" which also featured Arash . Lyrics of the two songs differ considerably...

.

Another collaboration of Arash was with Pakistani-Danish singer Anila Mirza in the hit "Chori Chori" and the three-way collaboration between Arash / Aneela / Rebecca Zadig in "Bombay Dreams"

Arash has released a Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

 song; "" (Vostochnyie Skazki) (featuring Блестящие Blestyashchie
Blestyashchie
Blestyashchie is one of the first and most enduring all-girl singing groups in Russia.-History:Originally Blestyashchie consisted of three girls: Olga Orlova, Polina Iodis, and Varvara Koroleva. In 1996 Janna Friske and Irina Lukjanova joined the group when Varvara Koroleva left the group right...

), a Russian version of "Temptation", in which he sings in Russian and the Russian version became a big hit in Russian charts.
In Russia, Arash recorded several other singles with Russia's popular performers: Anna Semenovich
Anna Semenovich
Anna Grigorievna Semenovich is a Russian retired competitive ice dancer, a singer, actress and model.-Skating career:Early in her career, she skated with Maxim Kachanov. They competed at the 1994 Goodwill Games and placed 5th. She teamed up with Vladimir Fedorov in 1995. They won the Finlandia...

 , (Baskon)

DJ Aligator (also of Persian origin) appeared in Arash's music video for "Music is My Language" as the producer and rapper.

The song "Suddenly" features Rebecca Zadig
Rebecca Zadig
Rebecca Zadig is a Swedish singer.- Career :Rebecca Zadig was featured in Arash's song "Temptation". This song is a newer version of her own song "Temptation" which also featured Arash . Lyrics of the two songs differ considerably...

, whereas his song "Man o to" features Slovak singer Lucia.

In his 2006 album (Crossfade), Arash, DJ Aligator and Shahkar Bineshpajoo made a song for the Iranian Football team
Iran national football team
The national football team of Iran represents Iran in international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran...

 for their appearance in the 2006 World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...

.

Arash released in March 2008 his third album, Donya, featuring a reggaeton
Reggaeton
Reggaeton is a form of Puerto Rican and Latin American urban and Caribbean music. After its mainstream exposure in 2004, it spread to North American, European and Asian audiences. Reggaeton originated in Puerto Rico but is also has roots from Reggae en Español from Panama and Puerto Rico and...

/dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...

 influenced single "Donya" in collaboration with Shaggy
Shaggy (musician)
Orville Richard Burrell , better known by his stage name Shaggy, is a Jamaican-American reggae singer and rapper. He is perhaps best known for his 1995 single "Boombastic" and 2000 single "It Wasn't Me"...

 and the single "Kandi" featuring the New York star Lumidee
Lumidee
Lumidee Cedeño is an American singer-songwriter and rapper. Cedeño was born in Spanish Harlem where she was raised by her grandparents...

. Other singles include "Suddenly" (featuring Rebecca), "Pure Love" (featuring Helena), and "Dasa Bala" (featuring Timbuktu). Music videos were made for "Donya", "Suddenly", "Pure Love", "Kandi" (for its 2009 re-release) and "Dasa bala"

Helena
Helena Josefsson
Helena Marianne Josefsson is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She is the lead singer in the band Sandy Mouche and has been singing in Per Gessle's projects since 2003. In February 2007 she released her first solo album, Dynamo.-Biography:...

 did not take part in the music video of "Pure Love", although her voice was used in it. The video was starred by Arash, together with the Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

n beauty queen, Marianne Puglia
Marianne Puglia
Marianne Pasqualina Puglia Martínez is a beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Earth Venezuela 2006....

.

Arash has produced along with Thomas G:son
Thomas G:son
Thomas Gustafsson is a Swedish composer and musician from Skövde, Västergötland, Sweden, north-east of Göteborg. However, he is much more known nationally and internationally simply as Thomas G:son, his artistic name. Since 1998, Thomas has worked full time as a songwriter for the company G:songs...

, Robert Uhlmann, and Johan Bejerholm the Swedish entry to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2010
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2010
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the eighth edition of Junior Eurovision Song Contest and took place in Minsk, Belarus. It was held on 20 November 2010.The contest was won by Vladimir Arzumanyan of Armenia with the song Mama...

 "Allt jag vill ha" that was performed by Josefine Ridell
Josefine Ridell
Josefine Ridell is a Swedish singer that represented her country at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Minsk, Belarus. Her song, "Allt jag vill ha" was written by Thomas G:son, Arash, Robert Uhlmann, and Johan Bejerholm."Allt jag vill ha" was presented on 6 October 2010 and was released...

. He also wrote and performed the song "Glorious" for the 22nd Men's Handball World Championship 2011
2011 World Men's Handball Championship
The 2011 World Men's Handball Championship, the 22nd event hosted by the International Handball Federation, was held in Sweden from 13–30 January, 2011...

 in Sweden in support of the Swedish National Handball Team for Men.

Eurovision Song Contest 2009

In early 2009, it was revealed that the Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

i entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Eurovision Song Contest 2009
The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest and was hosted by Russia after their win in 2008. It took place between 12 and 16 May 2009 at the Olympic Indoor Arena in Moscow, Russia....

 would be the song "Always
Always (Aysel Teymurzadeh song)
"Always" is a song by Azerbaijani singer Aysel Teymurzadeh and Arash, and was the Azerbaijani entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. The song was selected by İctimai Televiziya və Radio Yayımları Şirkəti , the Azerbaijani broadcaster, among the 30 songs submitted to the broadcaster in an open...

" which was written and composed by Arash. The song was performed by Aysel Teymurzadeh
Aysel Teymurzadeh
-Biography:Aysel was born in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, the youngest of the three daughters of a journalist and a university professor. She is a descendant of the nineteenth-century Azerbaijani publicist Hasan bey Zardabi. Her grandmother on her mother's side was half-Russian, half-Ukrainian...

 and Arash in a duet in Semifinal 2 of the Eurovision competition. The song qualified for the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

 final which took place on 16 May 2009, and was placed third.

Personal life

He has two younger brothers, Ashkan Labaf, a doctor, and Arsalan Labaf, a lawyer.

Labaf married his long-term fiancee, Behnaz Ansari, on the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

 coast of Dubai in May 2011..

Discography

  • 2005: Arash
    Arash (album)
    Arash is the debut album of Arash Labaf, a Swedish pop singer of Iranian origin. It was released in 2005.- Track listing :#Tike Tike Kardi#Yalla#Boro Boro#Ey yar begoo #Temptation #Arash...

  • 2006: Crossfade (The Remix Album)
    Crossfade (The Remix Album)
    Crossfade is the second album of Arash Labaf, a Swedish pop singer of Iranian origin. It was released in 2006. The album peaked at number 24 on the Polish Albums Chart.- Track listing :#Iran Iran#Arash...

  • 2008: Donya

Singles

Year Title Peak Certifications/
Notes
Album
FIN SWE
Sverigetopplistan
Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association ....

SUI
Swiss Music Charts
The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...

2004 "Boro Boro" 12 1 8 Arash
Arash (album)
Arash is the debut album of Arash Labaf, a Swedish pop singer of Iranian origin. It was released in 2005.- Track listing :#Tike Tike Kardi#Yalla#Boro Boro#Ey yar begoo #Temptation #Arash...

2005 "Tike tike kardia" - 2 -
"Temptation" feat. Rebecca
Rebecca Zadig
Rebecca Zadig is a Swedish singer.- Career :Rebecca Zadig was featured in Arash's song "Temptation". This song is a newer version of her own song "Temptation" which also featured Arash . Lyrics of the two songs differ considerably...

15 2 42
2006 "Arash" 8 20 -
"Chori Chori" Aneela feat. Arash 5 - 82 Donya
2008 "Suddenly" feat. Rebecca - 8 -
2009 "Pure Love" feat. Helena
Helena Josefsson
Helena Marianne Josefsson is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She is the lead singer in the band Sandy Mouche and has been singing in Per Gessle's projects since 2003. In February 2007 she released her first solo album, Dynamo.-Biography:...

19 - -
"Always" by AySel
Aysel Teymurzadeh
-Biography:Aysel was born in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, the youngest of the three daughters of a journalist and a university professor. She is a descendant of the nineteenth-century Azerbaijani publicist Hasan bey Zardabi. Her grandmother on her mother's side was half-Russian, half-Ukrainian...

 and Arash
- 3 98 Eurovision entry for Azerbaijan in 2009.
Also charted in Greece (#2), Ukraine (#4), Czech Republic (#40), Hungary (#40), Slovakia (#47), Germany (#96) and UK (#137)
Non-album release


Other singles/videos that did not chart include:
  • 2007: "Yalla"
  • 2008: "Donya" (Arash feat. Shaggy
    Shaggy (musician)
    Orville Richard Burrell , better known by his stage name Shaggy, is a Jamaican-American reggae singer and rapper. He is perhaps best known for his 1995 single "Boombastic" and 2000 single "It Wasn't Me"...

    )
  • 2009: "Behnaz"
  • 2009: "Kandi" feat. Lumidee
    Lumidee
    Lumidee Cedeño is an American singer-songwriter and rapper. Cedeño was born in Spanish Harlem where she was raised by her grandparents...

  • 2009: "Près de toi (Suddenly)" (Najim
    Najim
    Najim also known as Cheb Najim is a French raï singer of Algerian origin. He is signed to EMI/Virgin Music France.- Biography :Najim was born in France to an Algerian father and a French mother...

     feat. Arash and Rebecca
    Rebecca Zadig
    Rebecca Zadig is a Swedish singer.- Career :Rebecca Zadig was featured in Arash's song "Temptation". This song is a newer version of her own song "Temptation" which also featured Arash . Lyrics of the two songs differ considerably...

  • 2010: "Broken Angel" (feat. Helena)
  • 2010: "Dasa Bala" (feat. Timbuktu
    Timbuktu (artist)
    Jason Michael Robinson Diakité , known under the stage name Timbuktu, is a Swedish rapper and reggae artist. Earlier in the mid-1990s, he started as part of rap Excel before going solo as Timbuktu.-Biography:...

    , Aylar
    Aylar Lie
    Aylar Dianati Lie is a Norwegian model of Iranian Azerbaijani descent and former pornographic actress who gained celebrity status under the pseudonym Diana. She is currently working in the music industry as a music video actress and singer, having featured in several of Swedish DJ Basshunter's...

    , YAG)
  • 2010: "Glorious" (Official song for Men's Handball World Championship 2011 in Sweden)
  • 2011: "Melody"

Filmography

  • 2005: Bluffmaster! as playback singer
  • 2012: Rhinos Season (in post-production)

Music videos

Arash has worked with a number of directors for his video including Alec Cartio
Alec Cartio
Alec Cartio, full name Alexander Cartio, is an Iranian-Swedish-American music video director. He is also a professional film director and a producer and director of many commercials. He is the brother of Iranian-Swedish performer Cameron Cartio...

 and Fred Khoshtinat
Fred Khoshtinat
Farbod Khoshtinat , better known by his pseudonym Fred, is an Iranian director, editor, cinematographer, artist, writer, composer, producer, musician and singer.-Early life and education:Farbod Khoshtinat was born in Tehran, Iran....

. Fred directed the Arash hits "Dasa Bala" feat. Aylar, Timbuktu and Yag, (April 2010) and "Broken Angel" feat. Helena (Dec 2010)

External links

  • Official website
  • Arash at MySpace
    MySpace
    Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....

  • Official Forum
  • Arashfans.com
  • Arash at warnermusic.de (2)
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