AYY ZEEINDEPENDENT RAP ARTIST
Voice of Assyria single cover by Ayy Zee: an Assyrian figure among ancient ruins beneath a sunlit Assyrian flag

AYY ZEE / SINGLE

Voice of Assyria

Original single coming in 2027. Exact release date to be announced.

Remembrance. Recognition. Still here.

Voice of Assyria is Ayy Zee’s affirmation of Assyrian heritage: remembrance for those who were lost, recognition of what his people have endured, and a refusal to let language, faith or identity disappear.

Written in Assyrian and presented here in Latin-script transliteration, the lyrics connect Sayfo, diaspora and inherited memory with the determination to keep a people’s name and voice alive. The original and Choir Remix are separate singles planned for 2027.

Original and Choir Remix

This page is for the original Voice of Assyria single. The choir-led version will release as its own single. Exact dates and streaming links will be added when announced.

HERITAGE. REMEMBRANCE. RECOGNITION.

A name that survives.
A voice that carries.

Remembering what was endured

The song remembers Sayfo, the Assyrian genocide, alongside the suffering of Armenians and Greeks. Behind each loss are families, homes, villages and names that deserve to be remembered. Recognition is part of carrying that history forward.

Faith, language and homeland

Christian faith, the language of parents and grandparents, and the places named in the lyric connect memory to everyday life. The song also speaks to ongoing persecution, religious discrimination and displacement in Assyrians’ ancestral homelands.

The right to name your own identity

Ayy Zee identifies as Assyrian. The song challenges revisionism that denies Assyrian existence, dilutes that history or insists on relabelling him as Chaldean. It affirms his right to name his heritage, preserve his language and pass that identity to the next generation.

From Nineveh to Hakkari, Tur Abdin and Khabur, the lyric joins place, memory and belief. Its answer to erasure is a living voice: remembrance, recognition and resilience carried from one generation to the next.

Historical context and recognition

The International Association of Genocide Scholars’ 2007 resolution recognises the Ottoman campaign against Christian minorities between 1914 and 1923 as genocide against Armenians, Assyrians, and Pontian and Anatolian Greeks. Sayfo is the name used in the song for the Assyrian genocide.

Religious persecution and displacement are also part of the song’s wider concern. USCIRF’s report on Iraq ten years after ISIS’s genocide documents continuing religious-freedom challenges facing affected communities.

IN AYY ZEE’S WORDS

Lyrics

ASSYRIAN / LATIN-SCRIPT TRANSLITERATION

Atur la mehta. Shima d’Atur la mit. Min Sayfo… min galuta… min dimma… Khayekh. W’qalan la shatiq.

Sayfo qam ati, dimma pishle b’ar’a, Baba, yimma, yalun - kul khad b’khada darga. Matwathan khurivlu, bayyatan qam yaqdi, Bas shima d’Atur? La qam mati.

Bziralan b’alma, min atra l’atra, Khad b’Europa, khad b’America, khad b’Australia. Bas ayni d’azakh, libban b’Atur, Ar’a d’avahan, la hawya manshur.

Qam b’elu d’makhilun shiman min pukhan, Qam b’elu d’mashlin lishanan min dukhan. Bas kul yala d’yale, w’kul brata d’yalda, Yalif: “Ana Aturaya” - w’qim b’qala.

Anan Aturaye - la mikhyan b’shtaqa, Dimma qam shafekh, bas qalan pishle rama. Sliva al qdalan, haymanuta b’libban, Alpa shnin d’atiq - w’hala khayekh idyan.

Anan Aturaye - shiman la khale, Min dora l’dora, nura la khave. Tlibakh huruta, tlibakh dina, Atur khaya - hala fina.

B’khad ida sliva, b’khad ida qalam, La tlibakh naqmuta - tlibakh d’yade alma. Yade ma awidlu, yade man qam nafli, Yade qabratan, matwathan d’khirivli.

La amrakh “nshi,” la amrakh “khalas,” Dimma d’avahan la hawya b’balas. Kul shima d’qtila, kul bayta d’paqta, Kul yimma d’bkhiya - hayya b’zokhra.

Qam sharidlu min beyta, bas la min libba, Qam shakli ar’a, bas la shakli nishma. Qam b’elu d’parqi khatta d’Aturaye, Bas qimu khatti - waladlu d’raye.

Anan Aturaye - la mikhyan b’shtaqa, Dimma qam shafekh, bas qalan pishle rama. Sliva al qdalan, haymanuta b’libban, Alpa shnin d’atiq - w’hala khayekh idyan.

Anan Aturaye - shiman la khale, Min dora l’dora, nura la khave. Tlibakh huruta, tlibakh dina, Atur khaya - hala fina.

Amritli “khli,” ana amrin “la.” Amritli “nshi,” ana amrin “la.” Amritli shima d’avukh la itleh dukha, Ana ktivannoh b’dimma - la bas b’dukha.

Lishana d’immi, qala d’babi, Teshbokhta b’edta, siparta d’sabi. D’la lishana, man iwakh? D’la zokhra, ayka azakh?

La tlebakh rakhme, la tlebakh matanta, Tlebakh dina, huruta, w’yarta. Ar’a d’avahan la hawya khloma, Kul dora d’ati - shawil leh qoma.

Min Nineveh l’Hakkari, min Tur Abdin l’Khabur, Shima khad - Atur. Gevaya mitbadil, bas dimma la, Dora mitbadil - haymanuta la.

Maran, natir ammakh, Natir lishanan, Natir yalan, Natir atran.

D’la hawakh bas siparta b’ktawa, D’la hawakh bas shima b’qabra. Hawakh qala. Hawakh nura. Hawakh Aturaye… Hala.

Idyan qiman, la b’khaila d’saypa, B’khaila d’qala, d’ktawa, d’haymanuta. Kul dora d’yalda b’galuta yade, D’atra itleh, d’shima itleh, d’qoma itleh.

Alma la pashim min sipartan, La mashli dimma d’qurbanan. Recognition la hawya bas mila, Yade d’wa - w’la hawya khad zoreh tila.

Kma d’khad Aturaya pash b’alma, It qala d’Atur b’libba d’amta. Kma d’lishanan iteh b’puman, La mit shiman. La mit umtan.

ANAN ATURAYE - HALA KHAYEKH! QALAN RAMA - LA SHATQAKH! SLIVA AL QDALAN - NURA B’LIBBAN! ATUR KHAYA - B’KUL DORAN!

ANAN ATURAYE - HALA KHAYEKH! LA NSHIKH! LA SHATQAKH! AR’A, HURUTA, DINA TLEBAKH! ATUR KHAYA - KMA D’ANAN KHAYEKH!

Sayfo la qam khatim sipartan. Galuta la qam shali shiman. Dora azil… Dora ati…

Atur pesha.

About Ayy Zee

Ayy Zee is an independent rap artist with Assyrian roots, blending sharp lyricism, dark humour, social commentary and high-energy production.

Meet the artist