Tehran Don (aka T.DON) was writing poetry from a young age, and fell in love with hip hop early on – listening to underground artists in his homeland of Iran, where rap music is illegal.

Tehran (Saman Tehrani) came to Aotearoa as a refugee at nine, and with exposure to how broad the genre is in English he embraced hip hop even more. “I love the art form, and work every day to better myself in the craft.”

Now in his mid-20s, the Auckland artist has been releasing music under various names (Young Poet and Butterfly Boy are also aliases he goes by) since he was 16, performing in the underground gig scene. With a background and degree in screen production, it was during Covid that he decided to take music seriously, and began teaching himself about production.

“It was a slow process figuring everything out, but learning to produce has helped me refine and finally find my sound after all these years. I feel really comfortable and confident in my own skin as an artist.”

His latest single Persian Girls is one of a mid-2026 trio, (with Coup D’état and The Dawn) that exemplify that accomplishment.

“Coup D’état is a song I made for my city and my country. With family back home, the stress of reading the news and not being able to get in touch with them built up. I laid out my frustration and confusion on that record.

“Iran is very censored, especially at the moment. There is so much talent among young people in the country that is being wasted. Because of that, I feel a responsibility as an Iranian with the freedom to express myself, to do so with honesty and dedication. What I have is a privilege, and I am very aware of that.”

Tehran says he’s tried out and worked on nearly every DAW.

“For a long time my workflow was producing in FL, and recording, self-engineering and mixing in Pro Tools. However I’ve now consolidated everything into FL Studio. I find the faster workflow more important for getting ideas out efficiently.”

While not heavily layered, his tracks are often imbued with Persian atmospherics and samples, though he’s cautious about the latter.

“I am always very aware of sample clearance issues, so I try to stay disciplined with that. If there is a sample inspiring me that I know I would not be able to clear I might use it to generate ideas, then remove it and fill the gap later. With Persian Girls, it was a mix. I used Splice for some elements, and others were programmed in.

“I think the more you mature in production and music in general, the more you value simplicity. That is something I am getting much better at. It is about doing less, but making it more impactful.”

He doesn’t see hurdles, rather believing it’s his duty as an artist to tap into an audience.

“I do think people are interested right now in hearing Middle Eastern voices, especially Iranian voices. It is more of an opportunity for me to push to the frontline of that movement and help get our voices heard.

“I am currently working on a project that means a lot to me, a cohesive body of work. It will be released later this year.”