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 (dropped out) |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 2007–present |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| 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 personality. His YouTube channel, Azerrz, has over 7 million subscribers and features voice impressions of a plethora of celebrities and cartoon characters. Since 2021, Zahir has voiced Cleveland Brown on the television series Family Guy, succeeding Mike Henry.
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Early life and education
Zahir is of African-American and Cape Verdean descent and was born on April 15, 1994, in Berkeley, California. He was partially raised in New Bedford, Massachusetts where he attended Nativity Preparatory School and Keith Middle School before moving back to California in 2007.
Zahir began doing voice impressions in middle school to impress his classmates. He originally made a YouTube channel in 2007 which focused on performing magic tricks. After doing so and finding success he started attending Hussian College's campus in Los Angeles. He later dropped out to spend more time focusing on his YouTube career.
Career
Zahir created his YouTube channel in 2012 but posted his first video in 2013. He started out by posting comedic sketches, gaming videos, and videos of himself performing voice impressions of both cartoon characters and real celebrities. Zahir garnered initial success through his voice impressions which he started doing in 2011. One of the first voices Zahir did was of Cleveland Brown who he would go on to voice several years later.
Zahir landed his first acting role playing a character named Arif in the short film No One But Lydia. Starting in 2018, he became a recurring cast member on How It Should Have Ended voicing Black Panther / T'Challa. Through community challenges and his first viral hit with "Ted Plays Call of Duty" (which has over 20M+ views), Arif quickly grew his channel to over 6.5+ million subscribers and 650+ million views.
He is also a rapper and singer and releases music under the moniker 4rif. He released his debut album At Last Sight on August 30, 2019. He followed it up with an EP called Go Gadget/Blues Clues which was released on April 29, 2020, in collaboration with rapper Dlngqnt.
On June 26, 2020, Mike Henry, who had voiced Cleveland Brown since 1999, announced he was stepping down and believed a person of color should voice the role. On September 25, 2020, it was announced that Zahir would be voicing Cleveland starting in Season 20 of Family Guy.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | No One But Lydia | Arif | Short film; credited as Arif Lopes |
| 2016 | Eraser | Death | Short film; credited as Arif Lopes |
| The Invisible Shadow | The Bagged Man | Short film; credited as Arif Lopes | |
| 2017 | Everyone But Me | Andre | Short film |
| Hues and Hidden Kings | A Hidden King | Short film | |
| 2019 | The Golden Realm: An American Larping Experience | Peter, Kalthor | Short film |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Cliffhanger | Ted | 3 episodes |
| 2018 | G.P.A. | Xander Holland | 4 episodes |
| 2018–present | How It Should Have Ended | Black Panther / T'Challa | 3 episodes; voice role |
| 2019 | Internet Rich | Himself | 1 episode |
| 2020 | Party Chat | Arif | Web series; also producer |
| 2020 | VENN: Arcade Live | Himself | Episode "Voice Impressions with Azerrz + WWE Superstar Zelina Vega Throw Down" |
| 2021–present | Family Guy | Cleveland Brown | Voice role; replaced Mike Henry starting in season 20 after he stepped down |
| 2021 | Rocky | Clubber | Voice role |
| 2022 | American Dad! | Reginald | 1 episode; voice role |
| Robot Chicken | Nelson Mandela | 1 episode; voice role |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | No Way Out – A Dead Realm Tale | Edgar, William Huxley, librarian, Clown | Voice roles |
Music videos
| Year | Song | Artist | Role | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Down the Line | Lokl Yokl | The Bartender | Ryan Rosenblum |
| ... With You | Joe Thomas Carter featuring 4rif | Himself | Zane Morrow | |
| 2019 | August | 4rif | Fowluh | |
| Gimme Ya Lovin' | Joe Thomas Carter featuring 4rif | Christina Xing | ||
| 2020 | At Last Sight/Kids | 4rif | ||
| The Window | Ryan Rosenblum |
Discography
Albums
| Title | Details |
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| At Last Sight |
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Extended plays
| Title | EP details |
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| Go Gadget/Blues Clues (with DLNQNT) |
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| Venture |
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Singles
As lead artist
List of singles as lead artist
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "August" | 2018 | At Last Sight |
| "Summers End" | 2019 | non-album single |
| "Wonderful Miracle" | At Last Sight | |
| "Channel Lovely" | ||
| "Go Gadget" (with DLNQNT) | 2020 | Go Gadget/Blues Clues |
| "Blues Clues" (with DLNQNT) | ||
| "Favorite Girl" | TBA | |
| "Ignore Me" | TBA | |
| "Cafe in LA" | 2021 | TBA |
| "Leave Me (August II)" | TBA | |
| "Note to Me" | 2022 | TBA |
As featured artist
List of singles as featured artist
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Hope County" (NerdOut featuring 4rif and Legiqn) | 2018 | Year 3 |
| "... With You" (Joe Thomas Carter featuring 4rif) | non-album single | |
| "Gimme Ya Lovin'" (Joe Thomas Carter featuring 4rif) | 2019 | non-album single |
| "G League"(DLNQNT featuring 4rif) | DZJNTD Vol. 1 – DNT PLY |
