Chaii Chronicles Her Immigrant Journey on Persian Rap Album ‘Safar’

After global feverish hype with album teasers like ‘Night Like This’ and ‘Fun’, Iranian-born Kiwi artist Chaii has finally released her first full-length debut record, ‘Safar’.

Produced with her long-term collaborator and life partner, Frank Keys, ‘Safar’ sees the rapper-producer-engineer meshing influences from classic Western hip-hop beats with traditional Persian instrumentations, carving out a unique sound that represents her multi-cultural identity as someone caught between two different worlds.

Across the 12 tracks of ‘Safar’, which means ‘Journey’ in Farsi, the multi-hyphenate artist narrates her personal journey as an immigrant from Iran to New Zealand, reflecting on the hardships she faced to carve her own path into the music industry and the different phases she went through to become who she is now. The record is refreshingly bold, unfiltered and as unapologetic as ever, where the sweetness of her vocals is offset with dark, dirty beats and glitchy, fuzzy productions.

The lead single ‘We Be Killing It’ is a fiery boisterous high-octane track, self-produced by Chaii, where she lathers sunshine vibes over old-school beats tinged with Persian undertones, detailing how she had to work on her confidence, get out of her comfort zone and be her own boss to make it in the music scene. The track is accompanied by a DIY guerilla-style music video following Chaii and a group of dancers through rebellious late-night street antics.

On tracks like ‘Drippin In Gold’, Chaii talks about how she tries to stay laser-focused on her dreams and give back to her parents for the sacrifice they’ve made for her, while ‘Fun’ is a more light-hearted reminder for herself to enjoy all parts of the journey, the highs and lows alike.