ARASH (Arash Labaf)
ARASH is a Platinum-selling Swedish singer and producer whose music is also certified gold in many European countries. Whether he’s singing in his mother tongue (Farsi) on his own chart-topping releases, singing in English with some of the worlds biggest names, including: Shaggy, Sean Paul, T-Pain and Snoop Dogg, he is the only artist of Persian heritage to release four albums and thirty singles that have sustained a high-level of success by topping the charts around the world. He is recognised and honoured by numerous industry organisations, is the recipient of the ‘EBBA’ (European Border Breaker Awards), the ‘Best International Artist’ in the Big Apple Awards and has won two Russian Grammys as well as being awarded the top import artist in all of Russia.
His debut album ‘Arash’ was released by Warner Music Sweden in June 2005. The singles ‘Boro Boro’ and ‘Temptation’ made it to the hit lists around Europe and the accompanying videos gathered significant airplay on more than thirty-five MTV outlets across the world. Arash’s records have been certified gold or platinum in many countries. He won the 2005 International Music Market Award in Cannes as Sweden's most successful debut artist and his number one smash hit ‘Boro Boro’ was included in the blockbuster Bollywood flick ‘Bluffmaster’, which also featured Arash in his big-screen cameo debut.
In 2006, ‘FIFA World Cup ballad’ (an official song for Iranian Football team), was regarded as one of the best three such songs of the year by the world-renowned sports magazine ‘Sports Illustrated’. Later in 2006, he won two Grammys in Russia and was recognised as the top import artist in the whole of the Russian Federation.
In 2008 Arash released his third studio album ‘Donya’. It featured a global sound that injects the listener with a lethal rhythm of western production and mediterranean harmony. The first single, ‘Donya’, is a collaboration with Jamaican-American reggae singer SHAGGY, whose career has been defined by a string of platinum-selling US singles in the last decade. The 14-track record also included ‘Kandi’, which featured US radio darling and international phenomenon LUMIDEE. ‘Dasa Bala’, featuring Swedish rap pioneer and certified hitmaster Timbuktu; and ‘Pure Love’, a duet with Helena, which went onto become the top selling single of the year in Russia.
In 2009 Arash participated in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song ‘Always’ and took the 3rd place. A year later, he was again making waves with the song ‘Broken Angel’, (a sequel to ‘Pure Love’). The single earned the top spot in the Hot 100 and become the best selling single of 2010 in Eastern Europe. In December, he released the official song for the 2011 Men’s Handball World Championship, ‘Glorious’.
In 2012 Arash made his film debut in the movie ‘Rhino Season’ (which starred the Italian actress Monica Bellucci). It went on to win the Asia Pacific Screen Award and the Prize of the Jury for Best Cinematography in the 2012 San Sebastian International Film Festival.
In the beginning of 2013, ‘She Makes Me Go’ (a promotional single featuring Sean Paul), had climbed into the top-5 charts in Sweden, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Austria and Greece. By the Summer of 2013 Arash was embarking on a number of prestigious live shows and festivals around Europe.
For his next release, Arash worked with his long-term music producer Robert Uhlmann. In September 2014 he released his fourth studio album ‘Superman’. It included the single ‘Sex Love Rock n Roll (SLR)’ on which the American R&B star T-Pain guested. In support of the album, Arash embarked on a World tour in 2015 and 2016, with sold-out dates throughout the USA, Asia and Europe.
