An Iranian protest song in response to the death of a Kurdish woman in police custody is flooding the submission box for the Grammys’ newest award category.
A campaign on TikTok urged users to nominate the anthem, Baraye, for one of the show’s new special merit awards, which honors a song dedicated to social change. It’s received over 83% of the 115,000 total nominations for the award, the Recording Academy said. The social media campaign aims to raise awareness of the uprisings in Iran and the song itself.
Iranian musician Shervin Hajipour composed the song from tweets and other social-media posts from protestors commemorating Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old who died in police custody in September after being accused of violating the country’s compulsory dress code. Police denied any wrongdoing and said Amini died of a heart attack, which her family has since challenged. In the weeks since her death, women and girls across the country have led protests and demonstrations, often at great risk to their own lives.
Hajipour was also arrested after he shared the song, the title of which means “Because Of” or “For the Sake Of” in Farsi. The Guardian previously reported that the song was removed from Instagram after his arrest and that Hajipour was released on bail. It’s been reuploaded to YouTube and other social media platforms, and “was used by Iranians all over the world as a rallying cry — it has become the anthem for the movement,” a crowdsourced guide for nominating the song for a Grammy says. On TikTok, the hashtag #Baraye has nearly 1 million views. Hajipour has since been released.
The Recording Academy was “deeply moved” by the social media campaign, Chief Executive Officer Harvey Mason, Jr. said in an e-mailed statement. “While we cannot predict who might win the award, we are humbled by the knowledge that the Academy is a platform for people who want to show support for the idea that music is a powerful catalyst for change.”