Wash. Post:

Beyoncé and Jay-Z, the reigning queen and king of American pop culture, seem to be incorporating aspects of Persian culture, history and literature into their work and lives.

Perhaps this theory, which I am uniquely equipped to present, is a stretch. But when taken together, the evidence is compelling. Let’s review:

The couple has not officially announced the birth of their twins (TMZ, CNN and others have cited unnamed sources in confirming the news), but they may have settled on names: Rumi and Sir.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Persian poetry (or haven’t attended a yoga class or wedding ceremony lately), Rumi is how most folks refer to the 13th century Persian poet, Jalal al-Din Rumi, a Sufi master (Sufism is a mystical strain within Islam).

Earlier this year, Beyoncé released a Tidal playlist, “IV EVER EVER,” to mark the couple’s ninth wedding anniversary. The 65 tracks range from Stevie Wonder to Donny Hathaway to Nina Simone.

But one of the handful of foreign-language tunes is Googoosh’s “Talagh.” (Hat-tip to @mxhrxd for this eagle-eyed observation.)

Googoosh is, you guessed it, a Persian singer. But not just any ol’ singer. She is the Barbra Streisand, the Madonna, the — well, Beyoncé — of Persian music. And if you were going to include just one Persian track on a playlist, the most fitting choice is a Googoosh one.

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