Andrew Veeder on July 13th, 2016

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Azad Right, née Azad Naficy, is a Los Angeles-based Iranian-American rapper and producer who also serves as vice president of the L.A./U.K. label Mind of a Genius, whose roster includes Gallant, THEY and Zhu. Azad’s family was exiled from Iran, his father fleeing in the early ’80s after his first wife and other family members were executed, and he moved around Europe before coming to Los Angeles. As a kid, Azad played piano and violin, but became captivated by his father’s live poetry readings, and was drawn to hip-hop as a teenager, embracing Eminem, Jay Z, and Nas. He majored in poli sci at UC Irvine and interned at Interscope Records before his 2011 single “Spiderwebs” drew attention enough to join Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, and Phonte on tour.

His 10-track effort from 2014, “For The Hopeful,” featured the great “When I Grow Up” as well as guest verses from Azizi Gibson and Thurz, but a pair of recently released tracks find him veering more into R&B territory. “Enough Of You” has a hazy, emotive melody produced by Sango, Atu and Dpat, bolstered by swirling synths and bevy of beats, and finds Azad pulling double duty as rapper and singer a la Drake, but with a warmer vibe and less robotic flow as he waxes nostalgic about an ex. The other track, “Special,” was produced by Patrick Collier and has a woozy early Weeknd feeling, complete with the confidence of lines like, “Straight to the point, girl I’m not a pretender / Muscle memory, I’ll hit it so your body remembers.” Check out both below.

||| Stream: “Enough of You” and “Special”