H.O.S.T.

Group's logo with pentagram. Created by az-ya (Royal Pashayev)

H.O.S.T.
Origin	Baku, Azerbaijan
Genres	Hip Hop, Political Rap
Years active	2007 – 2012
Past members	Qaraqan Promete AiD Feck ErranT Felon De Jure Dervish Jamal Ali az-ya (Royal Pashayev)

H.O.S.T. was an influential Azerbaijani hip hop group, based in Baku.^[1]

The group's name derives from abbreviature letters of classical elements in Azerbaijani language, which means hava (air), od (fire), su (water) and torpaq (earth).

The group was active for five years and released seven studio albums.^[2] The group disbanded in 2012, after each member went down his own path, though some have briefly worked together.^[3]

H.O.S.T (Royal Pashayev (az-ya), PRoMete, Orkhan Zeynalli (AiD) and Elkhan Zeynalli (Qaraqan) at media presentation of new clip.

One of the founders of group and producer Royal Pashayev also known as az-ya is an art director, journalist with bachelor's degree. He known for his idealogical side of H.O.S.T group, one of the main thinker, creator of all visual identity.^[4][5][6][7]

Political situation and arrests

H.O.S.T were being intimidated by national security service of Azerbaijan Republic. Agents in the Azeri exclave of Nakhichevan and Baku. Fifteen youth were detained for eight hours by National Security Ministry operatives and instructed not to listen to the band’s music which they reportedly claimed was “subversive.”

The band too has not been spared from unwanted attention from the authorities. Although it released its first album in 2007, H.O.S.T has not been able to sell it openly in Azerbaijan. Instead, the music has been distributed freely from person to person. H.O.S.T too has also been detained and warned not to write any more “anti-State” songs while the police are known to demand fans they encounter delete the band's music off their mobile phones.^[8]

Albums

• "Proloq" (2007)
• "Qarada Qırmızı" (2008)
• "Qısa Qapanma" (2009)
• "EP v.01" (2009)
• "Biz İnsan Deyilik" (2010)
• "14" (2011)
• "İşıq" (2011)

References

1. "H.O.S.T: Gənclərin problemi sərbəst olmamağındadır". news.lent.az (in Azerbaijani). Retrieved 26 June 2014.
2. "Что случилось с рэп-группой "HOST Alyans"?". 1news.az (in Russian). Retrieved 26 June 2014.
3. Aliyeva, Kamilla. Главное – это когда твои песни понимают.... zerkalo.az (in Russian). Retrieved 26 June 2014.
4. H.O.S.T rap band at national TV - Xezer Channel, 2010
5. Royal Pashayev talking about idea of H.O.S.T movement at last concert of group, 2012
6. Cover of the most popular idealogical album of the group "Qarada Qirmizi", 2008
7. Qaraqan announce new musical, 2011
8. Rocking and Rapping in Azerbaijan H.O.S.T.