Kian Zamanian
By: Liam Aldous
It was with great joy that I had the privilege of interviewing Mr. kian Zamanian, a Grade 11 student and musician, this year. Kian is an extremely talented producer, rapper, singer, and multi-instrumentalist who releases music to Spotify under the moniker Nine Star. He started releasing music in 2018, and made his album debut in 2019 with the EP (short for Extended Play, essentially a short album) Stories, and has since gone on to release 2 more EPs, as well as a handful of singles mostly released during the pandemic, a time during which he was most prolific.
In his own words, he is a “spiritual and inspirational rapper and producer who has developed harmonious melodies in various genres such as hip hop, R&B, spiritual drill, and trap.” A theme which is ever-present in his works is the theme of activism, having written in the past about topics such as racism, religion, and turmoils in his family’s country of origin, Iran, to name a few. A lot of his music, however, also contains strong positive messages such as “uplifting notions and ideologies concerning unity, love and universal peace,” to quote Mr. Zamanian himself.
In terms of influence, from a musical perspective he cites American rapper & producer Colby Jeffers, as well as Canadian-Nigerian rapper Dax as his main influences on his beats & rapping.
“Dax and Colby Jeffers are my main influences for making music and producing. Colby first ignited my passion for making music and serving my community. Without him Nine Star definitely would not have existed. Secondly, Dax continued to inspire me to make music, however he gave me new insights on how I should better effectively share the positive messages from my faith. He taught me how to be more relatable with my audience and their experiences, and for that I will always appreciate him.”
From a lyrical perspective, Kian says that his messages of positivity and love draw from the teachings of the Baha’i faith.
“The Baha’i Writings are one of my sources of inspiration to start making my pieces. Baha’i teachings regarding love, equality, and universal inclusivity are topics that I believe should be ubiquitous and must be continuously shared until everyone has heard of those teachings.”
Ultimately, he wants people to take away sensations of joy and happiness when they listen to his music, and he wants them to learn about some of the things he is saying when he raps/sings and try to make this world a better place. For the future, his goal is to hopefully work one day with an esteemed artist, and he has said in the past that his dream is to produce for Dax.
“In addition it would be wonderful to be largely recognized for one of my future songs. Hopefully one day this will happen, all I have to do is try my best in making songs and have fun in the process.”
I highly recommend listening to some of Kian’s music, I certainly had a great time enjoying it myself, and I think that you would like it too. Well done, Kian!
Link to Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6m8TaGVWXZlZHGQ2oaraxF?si=6Jm6ZyMbSFOdeUf6 wNdGYA
By: Liam Aldous
It was with great joy that I had the privilege of interviewing Mr. kian Zamanian, a Grade 11 student and musician, this year. Kian is an extremely talented producer, rapper, singer, and multi-instrumentalist who releases music to Spotify under the moniker Nine Star. He started releasing music in 2018, and made his album debut in 2019 with the EP (short for Extended Play, essentially a short album) Stories, and has since gone on to release 2 more EPs, as well as a handful of singles mostly released during the pandemic, a time during which he was most prolific.
In his own words, he is a “spiritual and inspirational rapper and producer who has developed harmonious melodies in various genres such as hip hop, R&B, spiritual drill, and trap.” A theme which is ever-present in his works is the theme of activism, having written in the past about topics such as racism, religion, and turmoils in his family’s country of origin, Iran, to name a few. A lot of his music, however, also contains strong positive messages such as “uplifting notions and ideologies concerning unity, love and universal peace,” to quote Mr. Zamanian himself.
In terms of influence, from a musical perspective he cites American rapper & producer Colby Jeffers, as well as Canadian-Nigerian rapper Dax as his main influences on his beats & rapping.
“Dax and Colby Jeffers are my main influences for making music and producing. Colby first ignited my passion for making music and serving my community. Without him Nine Star definitely would not have existed. Secondly, Dax continued to inspire me to make music, however he gave me new insights on how I should better effectively share the positive messages from my faith. He taught me how to be more relatable with my audience and their experiences, and for that I will always appreciate him.”
From a lyrical perspective, Kian says that his messages of positivity and love draw from the teachings of the Baha’i faith.
“The Baha’i Writings are one of my sources of inspiration to start making my pieces. Baha’i teachings regarding love, equality, and universal inclusivity are topics that I believe should be ubiquitous and must be continuously shared until everyone has heard of those teachings.”
Ultimately, he wants people to take away sensations of joy and happiness when they listen to his music, and he wants them to learn about some of the things he is saying when he raps/sings and try to make this world a better place. For the future, his goal is to hopefully work one day with an esteemed artist, and he has said in the past that his dream is to produce for Dax.
“In addition it would be wonderful to be largely recognized for one of my future songs. Hopefully one day this will happen, all I have to do is try my best in making songs and have fun in the process.”
I highly recommend listening to some of Kian’s music, I certainly had a great time enjoying it myself, and I think that you would like it too. Well done, Kian!
Link to Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6m8TaGVWXZlZHGQ2oaraxF?si=6Jm6ZyMbSFOdeUf6 wNdGYA