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Neena Roe: Navigating Identity, Music, and Culture – A Journey from Detroit to Persia

2024-03-20

Perhaps these days, popular music in Iran is experiencing its most exciting period yet, with phenomena emerging in various genres, from pop and rap as the most beloved and popular genres among youth, to various styles of alternative music. Among the plethora of musicians that have captured the attention of the young generation in recent years, selecting just one artist as the main figure for the first physical edition of The Persian Magazine was a challenging task. While it seemed that due to the undeniable enthusiasm of Iranian youth for Persian rap and the significant portion of the magazine’s ideology dedicated to youth culture and hip-hop, the most obvious approach would be to choose one of the faces of this music genre. But it was Neena Roe who captured our attention due to her unique qualities and remarkable distinction from other Iranian musicians. Neena is a singer, songwriter, and producer residing in the United States. Her works often blend indie-pop and R&B styles. Neena began her professional career with the release of the song Chelsea’s Song in 2017, and after releasing several singles that were highly acclaimed by her audience, she is now in the final stages of producing and releasing her EP titled “how to be alone.” In this intimate conversation, Neena discusses her life experiences as a child of Iranian immigrants in America, her family’s artistic and musical background, initial steps, and reasons for aspiring to become a professional musician, the obstacles and challenges of entering the music scene, the role of Iranian culture in her musical and non-musical thoughts, the significant expansion of her English-speaking audience (especially American) as opposed to Iranian audiences, her familiarity with the current state of music in Iran and her knowledge of the new generation of Iranian musicians, the reasons for choosing the song Bordi Az Yadam as her first Persian project, the challenges and difficulties of operating in the American music market compared to the Iranian music market, and more. Neena introduces herself as follows:

I’m Neena Roe, I was born in Detroit, Michigan. My parents and older sister were born in Iran. Aside from my own family, I didn’t grow up around many Iranians. Detroit is around 80 percent Black, so most of my friends were from that background and I was immersed in Black culture, which I am grateful to have experienced. But my parents spoke Farsi with me at home since childhood. Later, when I was 14, we moved to a predominantly white suburb. At that age, the move was really hard for me, but I began to find my place after a year. It was a big lesson in adapting. Since then, I’ve lived in a lot of places like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles. I even lived in El Salvador for a year, that’s how I learned Spanish. I think my Spanish is much better than my Farsi now (laughs).

Table of Contents

When you were younger, what genres of music were usually listened to in your family?

My parents always played Iranian music in the house and on drives. My dad was more into classical Iranian music and singers like Mohammad Reza Shajarian and Hayedeh. My mom liked the classics too but also Iranian pop music from the 90s – there was a lot of Googoosh and Moein.

When did you realize that you wanted to pursue music professionally?

Since I can remember, I was drawn to music. When I was 3 or 4 years old, I’d get in front of my family at mehmoonis and perform songs by Celine Dion or Brittney Spears. No one told me to do it; I always just had a passion for performance. I loved dressing up in fancy clothes in my room and performing songs in front of the mirror. Before Facebook became popular, everyone was active on MySpace. There was also another website called Tumblr, which was more for people into the underground, alternative scenes. Lana Del Rey, A$AP Rocky, Frank Ocean, The Weeknd and others all became famous on Tumblr. It was kind of like Instagram, you could post anything like songs, photos, videos.

Were you also active on Tumblr during those years?

Yeah, I used to have a Tumblr page, and in high school I would share my own covers of songs by Drake, The Weeknd – I remember covering this song called ‘Pretend’  by Lights. One feature on Tumblr was an anonymous “ask me” box. I remember when I was around 16, someone on Tumblr wrote to me, “You have a really beautiful voice. Why don’t you become a singer?” I replied something like: “Because being a singer isn’t a real career” (laughs). But I knew the answer I gave him wasn’t my actual opinion, it was more a reflection of the perspectives around me.

Why did you feel that way about singing?

I think when people emigrate from one country to another, they’re main focus is survival. Their dreams can become very limited. Your concerns become learning a new language, assimilating and finding a job to support your family. Because this was my family’s reality, for years, despite so many people telling me that I have the talent, I never thought I could have a career as a singer. But even then, since high school, I was in the studio with my friends singing hooks on their songs, because I just loved doing it. I was in choir and theater in school, just always looking for opportunities to sing. Finally, after graduating from university, I started to believe a career in music was possible for me.

So, the beginning of your professional music career started just after you graduated from university. How did you start this path?

After I graduated, I moved to California for a year. That’s when I started writing songs. I released my first single Chelsea’s Song on SoundCloud in 2017, which was based on a story from one of my friends’ lives that really spoke to my heart. The song has around 90,000 plays now. I was super encouraged by the success and thought to myself, ‘Wow! People want to hear what I’m singing about.’ Then, I released my second single ‘New in Town’ in 2019, which has over 100k plays. All of that was really motivating for me.

Were you working independently at that time?

I was completely independent. No one was funding my career or pushing my music, aside from loved ones who would share it. I would upload my songs on DistroKid, and they would be distributed to other streaming platforms. Then, Apple Music premiered two of my songs on Apple Music Radio. They even brought me on for a photoshoot with BeatsbyDre. It felt like everything was aligning. And then I started to perform in different places. At every show, you could see how the music connected everyone in the room. It showed me the power of music to bring people from all different walks of life together. Especially in a world where we are so deeply divided, music is like medicine that doesn’t belong to this world but can be created in this world; much greater than anything here (laughs).

What is your first memory of music?

I remember being around two or three years old visiting my aunt and uncle’s house. They had this massive, beautiful sitting room where everything was white. The walls, the carpet, the sofas, were all white. And then there was this gorgeous dark mahogany Steinway grand piano that is probably worth $50,000. I loved sitting in front of that piano and just touching the keys with my fingers. My uncle is a really great pianist and he’d sit beside me and teach me to play songs like “Hot Cross Buns.” Eventually, my parents put me in piano classes, but at some point, I lost interest in the class environment, but I kept practicing on my own. Honestly, there’s no feeling in the world like when I’m creating or performing music. When I’m creating music, I can be alone in a room and work for 12 hours straight, and it feels like only 10 minutes have passed. I become consumed by it, and nothing else gives me that feeling. This is one of the reasons why music is my main goal in life. I don’t think it’s a coincidence. It’s not by chance that someone feels this way.

Why did you get into music in general?

I believe that the purpose of human life is not just about the individual. We’re not in this world to only think about ourselves and our own families or cultural groups. We’re all gifted with qualities that make this world a better place for everyone. I try to have an impact on people’s lives through my music, to help along their healing journeys. The things that I write about go beyond romantic love and heartbreak. It’s about the common human experiences of feeling alone in a room full of people, not knowing the purpose of your existence, or being scared for the future. These feelings are universal, whether you’re 13 or 70 years old. The experiences that connect us. So yeah, the reason why I make music or why I decided to pursue music is that I felt I was given a gift for a reason, and I owe it to myself and to the world to put in the effort that I can to see this through.

Is there a history of artistic or musical activities among your family members?

If you were to ask my parents this question, they would tell you, ‘No, nobody in our family was into music,’ but that isn’t true (laughs). My mom has a very beautiful voice, and ever since she was younger and lived in Iran, she always sang. My dad is the same way. When they were young, my parents lived in the same neighborhood. My mom always tells me how my dad used to chant beautifully when he was young. Now my dad plays traditional instruments like the santoor and tombak. My dad’s cousin was a famous pop singer in Iran before the revolution, named ‘Gloria Rohani.’ My uncle is also a drummer in a band. I think music is in our blood.

What is the reason that most of your focus has been on genres like R&B or indie/alternative?

During my early artist development, I was back in Detroit. I was there when I wrote the song ‘New in Town,’ and a lot of the music creators around me were mainly making R&B and hip-hop music. So I thought, ‘Okay, it makes sense for me to develop my sound in the R&B realm.’ But the influences of indie have always been present in my life. I always listened to my older sister’s CDs when I was a kid. She had a lot of R&B, but also 90s alternative and pop like Alanis Morissette, Fiona Apple, Metric, No Doubt, Mazzy Star, which all had a big impact on my musical taste. I think as an artist, I hadn’t matured yet. I was still learning, still figuring out what my sound is. I was going to the studio pretty much every day, trying new things. Some sounded amazing and other things not so much. When I moved to California in 2022, we started focusing on my debut EP. We rented a cabin in the mountains, and for three days, my producer, guitarist, and I went there to write. We made almost all the songs for the EP, and everything had more of an indie feel. It might’ve had something to do with being in the woods with an acoustic guitar (laughs). I think just from developing as an artist, I became more comfortable trying different sounds, and I will continue to try different sounds. I feel my fans are invested in me as an artist and not so much in a genre. So I think whatever I make, the essence of who I am as an artist is going to be in that music.

It seems that a significant portion of your audience is from the American community. There doesn’t appear to be any indication of Iranian culture in your works. Was this a deliberate decision, or did your path naturally veer in this direction?

My music is entirely in English, so it’s not always clear that I’m of Iranian descent. Also, my name isn’t something like Sahar or Parisa which would clearly indicate I’m Iranian (laughs). But, I’ve never tried to hide my culture. I’ve always been very proud of it. I didn’t want to exploit my Iranian identity for fame. I can’t write songs in Persian. Seven-year-old kids in Iran speak much better Farsi than me (laughs). But in the end, I’m an Iranian artist, nothing can take away from that. My parents always told me, “Please sing a song in Persian.” Truthfully, I was a little bit insecure about my accent and my language skills. The style and music I create are so different from the Iranian style of music. I wasn’t sure how Persians would receive it.

On your TikTok page, where you have a lot of followers, all three videos that have been pinned and are much more popular than your other videos are related to Iranian culture and music. This is a topic that can turn you into an irreplaceable and unique character due to two prominent features. Do you have any plans to highlight this aspect of yourself, whether in the field of music or beyond?

What’s funny is that none of this was intentional. A few years ago, I had around 300 followers on TikTok and shared a video without any specific goal in mind. I was just thinking to myself, “This is so funny and relatable.” In the video, my mom pretty much shoved a spoonful of “Zeytoon Parvardeh” in my mouth, which I had never tasted before. I made a kind of shocked expression because it was so sour, and my mom asked me, “What happened? Was it sour?” And that was it. The video has more than 10 million views so far, which is insane. After that, I started posting more about being an Iranian growing up in America, my life experiences, relationship with my parents, and my racial identity because the U.S. categorizes Middle Easterners as “white,” which I don’t agree with. Eventually, I started posting my music on that page, and people would comment like, “Have you ever sung in Persian?” At the end of the day, I’m Iranian. Persian music is a part of my history. Being born and raised here doesn’t mean that I don’t have a right to the sound and this music that shaped us. I remember being in recording sessions with my producer and he would tell me that my singing style shows that I grew up with Iranian music. There’s a thing called microtones in singing – it’s certain notes that are heard way more in Middle Eastern-influenced music more than anything else, and I sing in that way. So, it’s always been a part of me, but then my TikTok audience really encouraged me to sing in Farsi. Then, I made one video where I sang “Masti” by Hayedeh acapella in a dome, which was actually designed by a Persian architect, Nader Khalili, and that video kind of went viral. It got like 100,000 combined views on Instagram and around 80,000 views on my TikTok. After that I was like, okay maybe I’ll start singing more in Persian here and there. That’s when I covered “Bordi Az Yadam”, and people really loved it. It got a lot of love on TikTok now and has over 100,000 views there. I decided to release it because a lot of Iranians who grew up elsewhere really loved it. I think it’s because the song kind of brings together their Persian culture and heritage with an acoustic style that feels more similar to what they’re used to hearing in English music, if that makes sense.

How much are you looking for Iranian audiences to listen to your music?

It’s so cool to me that an audience in Iran would want to hear my music or would enjoy what I’m creating. Because growing up in a country that is not really your own, you always have this feeling that you want to be connected with the place that you come from. I grew up in the U.S., but who I am is because my parents are from Iran. I wouldn’t be the person that I am today if it wasn’t for that. I used to feel like my take on Persian music wasn’t good enough because my Farsi isn’t great or I’m not Iranian enough or whatever. I didn’t think that people in Iran would enjoy what I’m making. But now that I see that diasporic Iranians here are listening to it and enjoying it, it makes that feel more possible and I think that would be really special.

You recently covered the song “Bordi Az Yadam” by Delkash and Viguen. Why did you choose this song as the first Persian song released by you?

I have two answers for this: I think the golden era of Persian music is from the 50s to the early 70s. That’s my favorite era. I think the quality of singers, the production, the instrumentals, the lyrics were so special. And, that’s the soundtrack of the version of Iran during the time that my parents were there. A few days ago, when I was thinking about this, I realized I had another reason for choosing this song that I had completely forgotten. When I was 12, my cousin “Sheyda,” passed away at the age of 14. She was one of my closest friends. I remember we used to message each other on MySpace because they lived in Canada and it was long distance to talk on the phone. A few months before she passed, she came to Michigan with her family and we bought a dress for her eighth-grade graduation ceremony. I still remember the day she passed away so clearly. My parents and aunt picked me up from school in the middle of the day, which was weird. They told me we were going to Canada because Sheyda was in the hospital. I asked why and they said her leg was broken. I was 12 years old but I wasn’t stupid (laughs). I knew that we wouldn’t go all the way to Canada over a broken leg. After a few hours in the car, I somehow realized Sheyda had passed away. When we got to their house, it felt so heavy. Her mother kept playing the song “Bordi Az Yadam” and said that it was Sheyda’s favorite. For years after she died, I would cry anytime I heard it. After a while, I stopped listening to it because I was tired of being sad. Then, like ten years later when I was listening to it again, I realized it was one of the only Persian songs that I knew all the lyrics to because I listened to it so much after she died. I was like, this is actually the perfect song for me to sing, but I had forgotten why I knew all the words and then recently I remembered.

One of the things that can be seen in abundance on Instagram is the presence of a significant number of artists just covering famous songs. In general, what is your ideology on the subject of covering?

When I cover a song, I never try to replicate the original singer’s style exactly because they’ve already performed it best. I’d rather reimagine it into a new style that will still connect with people. Sometimes older songs fade away for newer generations and they can be transformed to resonate with modern music while keeping their essence. I never want to be a musician who just covers other people’s songs; I want to write songs. My passion is songwriting. If a song is very special to me, I’ll cover it, but I don’t want the world to know me for covering other musicians’ songs.

Now that the song “Bordi Az Yadam” has been released, do you have any plans to make another song in Persian based on the feedback you received?

When something feels right, I do it, and I like to see how it unfolds. It felt right to release a cover of “Bordi Az Yadam.” Now, do I have a plan to cover more Persian songs in the future? I’m not sure. Right now, my focus is on my EP “how to be alone,” which we’ve been working on since September 2022. It’s really special to me. The second single will hopefully be released by late April. But I’m open to doing more Persian covers or even integrating Persian instruments and sounds into my music in a way that feels authentic to me.

Despite your interest in genres such as R&B and indie, what was the reason for your activity as a reporter in the field of rap music?

Hip-hop has a rich history in Detroit. Eminem is from Detroit, Royce da 5’9” and rappers like Blade Icewood and Big Sean. Detroit is just a big music city. R&B, hip-hop, even pop music and rock at their root, are all Black genres of music. They were invented and pioneered by Black Americans. Growing up in Detroit, which is a predominantly Black city, I consumed a lot of that music including hip-hop. My sister had CDs from Dr. Dre, Eminem, Jay-Z, and other rappers. I’ve always loved it. Almost every concert that I went to in high school was a rap concert. I was a huge fan of J. Cole; I went to every one of his tours since 2011. I think hip-hop is poetry. It’s an art form that has always worked to fight inequality and to give a voice to the experiences of marginalized people. It’s music with a greater purpose. In Iran as well, many Iranian rappers talk about sociopolitical struggles and personal challenges. Rap at it’s heart isn’t just about the individual, it’s about a collective experience.

Rap music in Iran is one of the most attractive artistic scenes. Do you know any Iranian rappers?

I have some knowledge of what’s going on and some familiarity with the Persian rap scene. Honestly, TPM (The Persian Magazine) has been helpful (Laughs). I think it’s one of the only platforms that helped me learn about what pop culture is like in Iran. I know some of the artists, like Young Sudden, Toomaj Salehi, Chvrsi, etc. Those guys definitely spark my interest.

What about musicians from other genres of music in Iran?

I don’t know many, but that’s not just specific to Iran. In the last year, I haven’t really been keeping up with new artists in general. I’ve been listening to a lot of older stuff, even English-speaking artists, but I would love to learn more about Iranian artists and what they’re creating, especially within the alternative scene. I think it’d be really cool to connect with them, maybe even collaborate. But it’s really hard when you live here. There aren’t a lot of platforms to connect with what’s going on there. So, I don’t even know where to look. The only platform that communicates between here and there is “TPM,” and I don’t know of any others. It’s very difficult for us here to know what’s happening in Iranian music.

Playing a role in the American music market is, contrary to what it seems, very difficult. For this reason, most Iranian musicians living abroad prefer to work in the Iranian music market in order to guarantee their success. Currently, what is your short-term and long-term vision in this music market?

I never think about having 10 million monthly listeners. I don’t pay much attention to numbers, for better or for worse. My only wish is to share my music with the world to a point that it can sustain my life financially and provide for my family. The rest is up to God (laughs). I never want to be so famous that I can’t even go to the store to buy onions without being recognized. I want to have a relatively normal life, but at the same time, I want to be able to bring joy to as many people as possible through my music. Becoming sustainable as a musician in the U.S. is incredibly hard. But I believe in my music, I know that it’s going to become something that’s bigger than me, but I don’t have crazy expectations of what I want it to be because I find that in life you shouldn’t be so focused on the outcome, you should be more focused on the journey. So I’m just enjoying the journey and doing what feels right. I guess in five years, we’ll see what happens.

One of the most important goals of musicians working in this field is to gain fame in the shortest possible time. You have no desire to gain fame?

Not really (laughs). Fame seems nice, but it’s super isolating. Famous people’s reality is so different from the rest of the world, and I always want to feel grounded and connected to people.

What are we going to hear from you in the near future?

My EP is going to come out this year. It’s called “How to be Alone,” and it’s basically about my experiences of being by myself and having to get through things alone or even feeling alone inside despite being surrounded by people. I think a lot of people feel lonely in their hearts and minds, even though they live with their families or are constantly around others. It’s also about being away from your homeland and culture, just different faces of loneliness and the world that exists inside of us. The first song, “concrete floors” came out in October of last year and the second song “broken!” will be out soon. Hopefully after the release, I’ll do some shows around the U.S.

What advice do you have for young Iranian musicians? What should they do for success in this path?

I think there are two important things to remember. One is to spend as much time as you can imagining the things that feel impossible. When you’re sitting in your car, or at night before you go to bed, or in the morning when you wake up, think about all the things you want in your career, even if you feel deep down you’ll never achieve them, because thoughts gradually become reality. Another thing is that you have to dedicate your time to creating music as much as possible. Spend as much time as possible with a guitar or piano, writing songs to beats, or learning how to use different music creation platforms. Spend as much time as possible on your craft, and the rest of the time, spend dreaming about everything that you want for yourself. Because at the end of the day, the only thing that’s stopping you, is you. You have to make your mind and your spirit strong because that’s the centerpiece of everything else.

Production Manager: Mahshid Hesampour, Photography: Nevyn Lyn Matthews, Videography: Nakisa Pirooz, Styling: Niloofar Alipour, Location: Kismet Cazimi Studio, Neena wears jacket Niloox

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