Arif Zahir facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Arif Zahir
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| Born |
Arif Zahir Lopes-Thrower
April 15, 1994 Berkeley, California, U.S.
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| Other names |
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| Alma mater | Hussian College (did not finish) |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 2007–present |
| Musical career | |
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| YouTube information | |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Genre |
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| Subscribers |
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| Total views |
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| Subscriber and view counts updated as of March 11, 2021. | |
Arif Zahir Lopes-Thrower (born April 15, 1994) is an American actor, musician, and internet star. He is famous for his YouTube channel, Azerrz. On this channel, he does amazing voice impressions of many celebrities and cartoon characters. More than 7 million people follow his channel! Since 2021, he has been the voice of Cleveland Brown on the popular TV show Family Guy.
Contents
Early Life and How He Started
Arif Zahir was born on April 15, 1994, in Berkeley, California. His family has African-American and Cape Verdean roots. He spent some of his childhood in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Arif started doing voice impressions when he was in middle school. He wanted to impress his friends! In 2007, he made his first YouTube channel. Back then, he posted videos of himself doing magic tricks. Later, he went to Hussian College in Los Angeles. But he decided to leave college to focus more on his growing YouTube career.
His Career and Success
Arif Zahir created his main YouTube channel, Azerrz, in 2012. He posted his first video in 2013. He began by sharing funny skits, gaming videos, and, of course, his voice impressions. He started doing impressions in 2011, and they quickly became very popular. One of the first voices he copied was Cleveland Brown. Years later, he would actually become the voice of that character!
Arif got his first acting job in 2014. He played a character named Arif in a short film called No One But Lydia. In 2018, he joined the cast of How It Should Have Ended. He voiced the character Black Panther / T'Challa in this series. His videos, like "Ted Plays Call of Duty," became super popular. This helped his channel grow to over 6.5 million subscribers and more than 650 million views.
Arif is also a rapper and singer. He releases music under the name 4rif. His first album, At Last Sight, came out on August 30, 2019. He also released an EP (a shorter album) called Go Gadget/Blues Clues in 2020. He worked with rapper Dlngqnt on that project.
A big moment in his career happened in 2020. Mike Henry, who had voiced Cleveland Brown on Family Guy for many years, decided to step down. He felt that a person of color should voice the character. On September 25, 2020, it was announced that Arif Zahir would take over the role. He started voicing Cleveland Brown in Season 20 of Family Guy.
What He's Been In
Arif Zahir has worked on many different projects.
Films
He has appeared in several short films:
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | No One But Lydia | Arif | Short film |
| 2016 | Eraser | Death | Short film |
| 2016 | The Invisible Shadow | The Bagged Man | Short film |
| 2017 | Everyone But Me | Andre | Short film |
| 2017 | Hues and Hidden Kings | A Hidden King | Short film |
| 2019 | The Golden Realm: An American Larping Experience | Peter, Kalthor | Short film |
Television Shows
Arif has lent his voice and acting skills to various TV and web series:
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Cliffhanger | Ted | Appeared in 3 episodes |
| 2016-2018 | Gumbino | Cleveland Brown, Pikachu | Voice role in 8 episodes |
| 2018 | G.P.A. | Xander Holland | Appeared in 4 episodes |
| 2018–present | How It Should Have Ended | Black Panther / T'Challa | Voice role in 3 episodes |
| 2019 | Internet Rich | Himself | Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2020 | Party Chat | Arif | Web series; also helped produce it |
| 2020 | VENN: Arcade Live | Himself | Guest on an episode |
| 2021–present | Family Guy | Cleveland Brown | Main voice role; took over from Mike Henry |
| 2021 | Rocky | Clubber | Voice role |
| 2022 | American Dad! | Reginald, Police Officer | Voice role in 2 episodes |
| 2022 | Robot Chicken | Nelson Mandela, Domino's customer | Voice role in 1 episode |
Video Games
He has also done voice work for video games:
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | No Way Out – A Dead Realm Tale | Edgar, William Huxley, librarian, Clown | All voice roles |
Music Videos
Arif has appeared in and created music videos:
| Year | Song | Artist | Role | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Down the Line | Lokl Yokl | The Bartender | Ryan Rosenblum |
| 2018 | ... With You | Joe Thomas Carter featuring 4rif | Himself | Zane Morrow |
| 2019 | August | 4rif | Himself | Fowluh |
| 2019 | Gimme Ya Lovin' | Joe Thomas Carter featuring 4rif | Himself | Christina Xing |
| 2020 | At Last Sight/Kids | 4rif | Himself | Christina Xing |
| 2020 | The Window | 4rif | Himself | Ryan Rosenblum |
Radio Shows
He has even been on the radio:
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | sRadio 104.9 (TRC) | Ted | Voice role; guest on an episode |
His Music
Arif Zahir, as 4rif, has released albums and singles.
Albums
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| At Last Sight |
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Extended Plays (EPs)
| Title | EP details |
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| Go Gadget/Blues Clues (with DLNQNT) |
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| Venture |
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Singles
Songs where he is the main artist:
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "August" | 2018 | At Last Sight |
| "Summers End" | 2019 | Not on an album |
| "Wonderful Miracle" | 2019 | At Last Sight |
| "Channel Lovely" | 2019 | At Last Sight |
| "Go Gadget" (with DLNQNT) | 2020 | Go Gadget/Blues Clues |
| "Blues Clues" (with DLNQNT) | 2020 | Go Gadget/Blues Clues |
| "Favorite Girl" | 2020 | To be announced |
| "Ignore Me" | 2020 | To be announced |
| "Cafe in LA" | 2021 | To be announced |
| "Leave Me (August II)" | 2021 | To be announced |
| "Note to Me" | 2022 | To be announced |
Songs where he is a featured artist:
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Hope County" (NerdOut featuring 4rif and Legiqn) | 2018 | Year 3 |
| "... With You" (Joe Thomas Carter featuring 4rif) | 2018 | Not on an album |
| "Gimme Ya Lovin'" (Joe Thomas Carter featuring 4rif) | 2019 | Not on an album |
| "G League"(DLNQNT featuring 4rif) | 2019 | DZJNTD Vol. 1 – DNT PLY |
