Aziz Waisi

About Aziz Waisi

Aziz Waisi is a Kurdish wedding and party singer from Kermanshah province whose fast, folk-rooted dance songs fill halls on both sides of the Iran–Iraq border. He was born on 21 February 1968 in Salas-e Babajani county and lives in the nearby town of Javanrud.

Sorani sources call him a şayîxwên, the singer who leads a wedding celebration. Most of his songs are based on Kurdish folk melodies set to a driving rhythm for the dance circle, the music where many Kurds actually meet their tradition. His recording career took off in the mid-2000s with seven albums, from Bemo (2006) through Sehend, Soma, Dîlan, Sema and Herzane to Newroz (2013). Since then he has mainly released singles and videos, including duets such as Kura Kurd with Sepideh and Benazî with Aras Mohammad. Although he lives in Iran, much of his audience is in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where he has performed many times.

In October 2022, during the protests that followed the death of Mahsa Amini, Iranian security forces detained him in Kermanshah after he posted a video supporting the protests; Rudaw reported that he was released on bail the next day. Fans still search above all for his older songs, such as Xirxal, Buk û Zava and Qaçaxçî, the soundtrack of countless Kurdish wedding videos.

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