A Snoop Dogg video has to be one of the most unusual places to see Persian motifs and the Asho Farohar. Wonder what and how that came to be. The lyrics of the song have nothing to do with anything Zoroastrian.

Here are two screenshots and below is the actual youtube clip

Sign the online petition to have it removed

UPDATE:

From the article (linked below) it now appears that the video is actually made by Amitis the Iranian singer, and features Snoop Dogg in it.

From her facebook page:

“Amitis was born October 1st. She started showing great interest and passion for singing at the bright age of three. When she turned fourteen, she was already a prodigy . Fluent in several instruments including piano, guitar, and violin. At the age of seventeen, she wrote the song “Tow Eshghami”, which has now been included in her debut album “One”. She is an avid horse rider, which also turned as a profession for her six years. Drawing and painting is one of her greatest talents. Loving and enjoying the beautiful views of life, her hobbies include music, drawing, horse riding, racing and the need for speed. Amitis enjoys nothing more than fast cars . Her debut album produced by renown record producer Elton Ahi, hit the stores December 2010. With her hit singles “Yek, Dow” and “Yavash Yavash”. Her new album is coming out soon as soon as Payam Shams is done with his final touches :)”

Here is a detailed write up from the Seattle Globalist

Snoop Dogg as gateway to Iranian culture?

It was a typical day of trolling Instagram when I came across a short clip of Snoop Dogg sitting on a throne with the Zoroastrian faraharvar symbol behind it. He was rapping with an Iranian pop singer named Amitis (who I had never heard of until that moment).

Excitement rushed to my brain. Did I just witness one of my favorite rappers underneath an ancient Persian symbol?

Yes, it was true. After a lot of Googling and YouTubing, I found the epic video entitled “King” by Amitis featuring Snoop Dogg.

it’s unclear where the video was shot, but I assure you that it was not in Iran. A lot of Iranian music and film is produced in the U.S. and elsewhere though, and still reaches audiences inside the Islamic theocracy via satellite TV.

So was everyone as excited as me to see Snoop collaborating with an Iranian singer?

I began to share the video all over social media and sent out mass emails to my Iranian community. I couldn’t wait to hear responses.

Most were annoyed about the stripper poles and how the women were half naked smoking hookah (that part especially bothered my mom).  Or they were disappointed that most of the video is not really related to ancient Persian culture, just incorporating some of its symbols.

Persian culture is filled with art and music, why take the superficial route? Most of Iranians I spoke to couldn’t get past the lyrics, which were mundane and corny. The adjective “cheesy” was used more than once.

Yes, I can agree with many of these statements. But if you watch other Persian pop videos, you will see that a lot of them are cheesy — that’s why they are so popular.

I couldn’t find too much personal background on Amitis — she’s certainly not a household name, even for Iranian Americans. Her website is broken — smooth move when you just launched the biggest video of your ENTIRE CAREER and paid Snoop for a cameo!

I did find out that she was named after the wife of Cyrus the Great — ruler of the ancient Persian Empire. Her full name is Amitis Moghaddam and she was born in Mashad, Iran but is now based in Atlanta.

A lot of her videos are on YouTube. She does have an affinity for using women in bikinis, but the stripper poles in “King” are taking it to a new level for her. If you are familiar with Snoop Dogg, you can imagine how these two ended up collaborating together.

At the end of the day, if this video means that Snoop Dogg fans will begin to listen to more Iranian singers (and there a lot of great ones) than it’s done some good. But it’s unlikely it will inspire anyone to learn more about the depths of our culture.