Säye Skye

• Musician

Säye Skye is an Iranian-Canadian rap artist and LGBTQ rights, activist. He was born in Tehran, Iran but immigrated to Canada in 2011 following exile from Iran for coming out as queer on national television (VOA Persian, BBC Persian, 2009) and releasing a viral hit “Saye Yek ZaneIrani” (“shadow of an Iranian Woman”) (2009), as well as follow-up hit “Bidari” (2009), dedicated to Iran’s homosexual population, and “Hagh Koshi” (“executing rights”) (2010). For being the first to come out while in Iran, the regime placed an official bounty on his life, and Säye Skye had to flee to Turkey where he was able to seek asylum from the UN to Canada. Säye Skye currently resides in Toronto, Ontario and lives as a trans/ non-binary individual who goes by he/they.

Säye continued his activism in Canada with NGO’s for newcomers and women’s rights (NewCircles, The Dr. Borna Maysami Foundation, 2012-2016) and personally working with LGBTQ refugees. In 2018 he spent 3 months in Berlin, Germany recording vocals and shooting a video in Hamburg for “TNE” (2018). He returned to Germany in 2019 for a 30-show tour and to record more singles including “ADHD” (360 VR Video shot by Canadian Iranian director Sina Dolati), and “DOPPA” (shot and directed by Säye Skyein in Berlin). Both were released in 2020, as well as “MATTA, “SAMMA”, and “MADDAR” (to be released 2021). In 2019, Säye Skye composed original music and wrote the soundtrack of the multi-award-winning German film “No hard feelings/ Futur Drei”, including the song “SOMMERFEST” from the film’s soundtrack (2020).