1.9.7.9.

1.9.7.9. This time it’s an album and not a year that resonates so profoundly in the Iranian American psyche. Aptly titled, the CD takes you on a 12 track binge that the two artists say is “merely scratching the surface” of what they have in store for the community.

Just as the Iranian immigrant experience is a story of hustle meeting chance, the album was the result of much hard work and some luck. When Namak Magazine’s publisher took an interest in the artist’s message, seeing it as a way to the present the community with something relevant and original, he offered them a deal: “Put together 10,000 copies of your first release by our publication deadline (one week!) and we’ll include it in our upcoming issue for free!”

Basic Poetry came through and the result was remarkable and unprecedented. 10,000 copies of 1.9.7.9. were distributed for free to readers of Namak Magazine, the cost absorbed entirely by the artists and Namak’s publisher. They consider it a gift to the community they love so well...