Elkhan Zeynalli

Elkhan Zeynalli, also known by his stage name Qaraqan (Azerbaijani language for 'blackblood'), is an Azerbaijani writer, songwriter, musician. and rapper. Elkhan is the first prize winner of National Book Award 2010. A graduate of the Turkish Lyceum in Baku (TDV-BTL), he studied journalism at Baku State University.

Music career
In 2007, being a first year student, he became the founder and leader of H.O.S.T. – a pioneer and one of the most famous hip-hop groups in Azerbaijan since its establishment. The first demo album of the group was released on the internet and garnered significant attention, amassing thousands of views right away. Starting as just a music community, H.O.S.T. grew into a big movement of creative youth. H.O.S.T. has released two albums: "Proloq" 2007 (eng. Prologue) and "Qarada qırmızı" 2008 (eng. Red in black), and performed on big stages of Azerbaijan Republic. There was a generation of young people calling themselves "HOSTed", which means those who follow the ideas described in the songs of H.O.S.T. group – propaganda of intelligence, justice, free thinking and personality.

In 2010 Qaraqan started his own project. Royal Pashayev from H.O.S.T. started working with him as a producer and art director. Elkhan has been performing in a unique musical genre – spoken word, acoustic hip-hop and jazz poetry where lyrics and music create a magical tandem. Qaraqan composed upwards of 200 songs throughout his career, crafting compositions for both his musical ensemble and his solo projects. He has released three solo albums: "Qısa Qapanma" 2009 (eng. Short circuit), "Ishiq" 2011 (eng. Light) and "Leykemia" 2013 (eng. Leukemia). These albums propelled Qaraqan to new heights, making him a cult figure in the musical art of Azerbaijan. Qaraqan performed successfully in Norwegian Embassy of Azerbaijan Republic, Ankara and Istanbul (Turkey) within two weeks tour, in Moscow (Russia) and other cities throughout the world. In 2015 Qaraqan performed in Austin, Texas as an official representative of SXSW Festival.

Writing career
Simultaneously, Qaraqan is renowned as a prominent author, having achieved fame for his literary works. He has published 7 novels all of which became bestsellers in his homeland. He has received presidential scholarship for achievements in literature, was announced "The Author of the Year 2010" and won the first prize at the National Book Award for his novel "A" which was written when he was 20 years old. Elkhan's novel "A" and "Mələk" (eng. Angel) were translated into Russian and English. Qaraqan is a member of Union of Azerbaijani Writers, the largest public organization of Azerbaijani writers, poets and publicists. In 2014 he became one of the members of the council of the Union.

Revival in 2023
After six years of silence following his moving to the USA, Qaraqan made a resurgence in the late 2023 releasing his new track "Söz" and ten more songs after that. His new presence in the social media is a comprehensive project and not a simple musical or literary career. The aim of this project is to gather together the most active and capable youth of Azerbaijan. Thousands of people have already gathered under the name of First Degree. Among these youth, there are directors, artists, students and businessmen, athletes and musicians, schoolchildren and bright-minded young people. First Degree is the first phase of a pre-planned project and Qaraqan is keeping the future a secret for now. Everyone is invited to the First Degree and there is no eligibility rules. The ultimate aim of Qaraqan's new movement is to bring about a Renaissance in Azerbaijan.

A part of this movement concerns creation of a new, decentralized and free publication platform called "Intibah" (eng Reneissance). The purpose is to encourage intellectual people to submit their literary works and have a chance to be published in this platform founded by Qaraqan.

Discography

 * H.O.S.T. "Proloq" 2007 (eng. Prologue)
 * H.O.S.T. "Qarada Qırmızı" 2008 (eng. Red in Black)
 * Qaraqan "Qısa Qapanma" 2009 (eng. Short Circuit)
 * Qaraqan "İşıq" 2011 (eng. Light)
 * Qaraqan "Leykemiya" 2013 (eng. Leukemia)

Books

 * "A romanı" 2007 (eng. A)
 * "Bir Milyon Dollarım Olsaydı" 2009 (eng. If I had a million dollars)
 * "Исповедь Одного Извращенца" 2011 (eng. Confession of one pervert)
 * "Mələk" 2012 (eng. Angel)
 * "Evakuasiya" 2013 (eng. Evacuation)
 * "Birinci addım. Beş anonim milyonçu" 2013 (eng. Step one. Five anonymous millionaires)
 * "İkinci addım. Həqiqətin beş adı" 2014 (eng. Step two. Five names of truth)
 * "Üçüncü addım" 2016 (eng. Step three Numerical forest )
 * "Art və Xaos" 2019 (eng. Art and Chaos)