LA native Nazo Bravo is preparing a new mixtape and documentary called “Armenian American”. In 2014, Nazo visited Armenia for the first time, stating “I went out there to solidify my brand in my homeland, and got to work with rappers who rap in Armenian and Russian. It’s amazing how global Hip Hop is now. I also got to see the neighborhood where my family comes from, and that just blew my mind. I feel like this documentary is something any first or second generation American can relate to, no matter where you come from”.
Nazo is known for his song and music video HyePower (“Hye” translates to “Armenian”), influenced by Kendrick Lamar’s HiiiPower after the two had a meeting where Kendrick shared some great advice for Nazo as an artist. In the same way Kendrick touches on important African American figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Nazo raps about Armenian figures like Hrant Dink, a journalist who was assassinated in Turkey in 2007 for speaking out about the Armenian Genocide. Recently, international law attorney (and George Clooney’s wife) Amal Clooney made headlines in an Armenian Genocide hearing before the European Court of Human Rights, accusing Turkey of double standards on freedom of speech while using Hrant Dink’s murder as a prime example.
Nazo will premiere the documentary as an episodic web-series on February 11th via his YouTube channel, and will release a song from each week’s episode via his Soundcloud. The series will conclude with a remake of HyePower titled “Power Of The Hye”, with the music video filmed entirely in Armenia. The soundtrack / mixtape will also feature Ras Kass and several Armenian artists both from the U.S. and overseas.
On the film side, Nazo is currently in production on the feature film Armenia, My Country, My Mother, My Love, a period drama set in 1915 based on stories from survivors of the genocide. Nazo plays the role of Grigor Orbelian, an Armenian intellectual called to Constantinople by Turkey during World War I on the eve of the Armenian Genocide. Historically, the rounding up and deportation of Armenian intellectuals (sometimes known as Red Sunday) marks the first phase of the genocide. The story then follows Grigor’s family as they face the treacherous death marches carried out by Turkish soldiers leading hundreds of thousands of defenseless Armenian women, children, and elderly to their deaths. The film is scheduled for release in theaters this April.
In regards to both projects, Nazo states, “It’s a crucial time for my people. April 24th marks the 100th year of denial of my people’s genocide, which Turkey still denies and America won’t officially recognize, so I’m doing what I can to help bring awareness to the issue.”