--- description: Find out why Shervin Hajipour is one of the 100 most influential people of 2023. title: Shervin Hajipour: The 100 Most Influential People of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf329ade4e6f96527/698a3bdc929fadaaa1bf9ba4/shervin-hajipour-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 13, 2023 # Shervin Hajipour by Marjane Satrapi  Khaled Desouki—AFP/Getty Images Nobody makes a masterpiece knowing they’re making one. In late September, [Shervin Hajipour](https://time.com/6253188/iran-grammys-shervin-hajipour/ "undefined") sat down at his piano in his apartment in Iran. Protests had raged across the country for more than a week after the death of [Mahsa Amini](https://time.com/6220853/iran-protests-mahsa-amini-what-to-know/ "undefined"), arrested for how she wore her headscarf. But [people were angry](https://time.com/6234429/iran-protests-revolution-history/ "undefined") about so much more. On Sept. 28, Shervin posted a song that, miraculously, managed to say what. Shervin wrote “Baraye” (“Because of”) with the words of fellow Iranians, who had gone online to list the ways their lives had become intolerable. The posts appear on the screen as he sings. In “[Woman, life, freedom!](https://time.com/6219585/why-iranian-protesters-chant-woman-life-liberty/ "undefined")” the [uprising](https://time.com/heroes-of-the-year-2022-women-of-iran/ "undefined") had already found a slogan. Now it had an anthem. Shervin was arrested within 48 hours and held for several days. In February, “Baraye” was [awarded the first Grammy for Best Song for Social Change](https://time.com/6253188/iran-grammys-shervin-hajipour/ "undefined"). But the ultimate validation is on the streets of our country every day and every evening, as his aching melody rises from open car windows. He became the voice of Iran. _Satrapi is an artist and Oscar-nominated filmmaker_ Shervin Hajipour Is on the 2023 TIME 100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269445/shervin-hajipour/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269445/shervin-hajipour/"},"headline":"Shervin Hajipour","datePublished":"2023-04-13T10:32:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:07.406Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269445/shervin-hajipour/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","sponsorshipblock","TIME100 2023"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf329ade4e6f96527/698a3bdc929fadaaa1bf9ba4/shervin-hajipour-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf329ade4e6f96527/698a3bdc929fadaaa1bf9ba4/shervin-hajipour-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269445/shervin-hajipour/","name":"Shervin Hajipour"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME100 | The 100 Most Influential People of 2023","description":"See all the people on Time's 2023 Time 100 list","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/P6RIsapV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-04-13T10:30:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/P6RIsapV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269445/shervin-hajipour/","duration":"PT1M53S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269445/shervin-hajipour/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```