Hi, I am Salome, a rapper/producer from Iran currently based in Austin, Texas. Seven Climes (Original: هفت اقلیم) is non-profit collaborative music project I started during Covid-19 lockdowns while I was living in Seattle. It aims to celebrate the cultural and lingual diversity that exist within the various ethnic groups from the Middle East, amplifying the voices of the marginalized youth and showcasing the power of hiphop as a tool for preserving languages and oral history.

I managed to produce the first Seven Climes album by receiving a grant from 4Culture (shot out to Heather!) while for the second album, I used my own savings and the small amount of Bandcamp sales that the first album had (around $300 total) to pay a symbolic “thank you” wage the collaborators and artists. I donated my own time and skills for the production but truthfully, all collaborators donated their skills and times as well. Although in my experience the best type of creative experience comes from this type of non-profit collaborations,  the longevity of this system relies on the availability and generosity of the people involved, which can be hard to sustain long-term, especially with the socio-economic difficulties in Iran.

Luckily, I firmly believe the ancient yet solid system of sustaining arts and cultural projects through generosity of patrons who can afford it, so that those who can’t can enjoy it too. Currently you can do just that by paying what you can for the albums on Bandcamp, although I am currently working on a more detailed, tiered and transparent system where you can support different aspects of the project, be a patron of specific songs and get credited during the release. Stay tuned, and listen on!