Arash

Born in Tehran in 1977 and settled in Sweden as a teenager in Malmö, Arash Labaf has, since the 2000s, built a career at the crossroads of international pop, dance-pop and an oriental aesthetic informed by Persian melodies. Arash came to attention with the single "Boro Boro" in 2004, and extended that exposure with the album "Arash" in 2005, which established a formula of immediate choruses, club rhythms and alternating Persian and English. That approach continued on "Donya" (2008) and "Superman" (2014), with a repertoire designed to circulate between European stages, Middle Eastern markets and diasporic audiences. Over his career Arash has collaborated with Rebecca Zadig, Shaggy, Aneela, Helena, Sean Paul and Snoop Dogg, while maintaining his blend of danceable pop and Middle Eastern colors. In 2009 he represented Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest with Aysel performing "Always", which finished third. His trajectory is thus situated within a transnational pop, halfway between eurodance, contemporary variety and mainstream electronic production.