Hi, I am Salome, a rapper/producer from Iran currently based in Seattle. I’ve founded and manage the Seven Climes project, (Original: هفت اقلیم) which is an open-call based, collaborative music project I started during Covid-19 lockdowns. It aims to present the cultural and lingual diversity of the Iranian Hiphop scene, while 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!). For the second album, I used my own savings on top of the small amount of Bandcamp sales that the first album had (around $300 total) to pay the collaborators and artists a symbolic thank you wage. I donated my own time and skills for the production. Note that this payment I was able to afford was very small and 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 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!