Master of Azerbaijani Gitara Music

Rəhman Məmmədli’s blazing, psychedelic guitar music sprang from one of the most tumultuous and transformative periods in Azerbaijan’s history, capturing both the spirit and the contradictions of its time.

In the years since, he has become the emblem of Azerbaijan’s gitara music—a unique subculture that developed around the electric guitar. Alongside the late Rüstəm Quliyev, whose “Azerbaijani Gitara” (Bongo Joe Records, 2020) introduced the West to this distinctive genre, which often sounds like Surf Music to untrained ears, Rəhman stands as the absolute don of this style—often going live on social media for hours on end, shredding.