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, one most notably being Cleveland Brown from the television series Family Guy. In 2021, Zahir became the official voice actor for Cleveland Brown, succeeding Mike Henry, who had voiced the character since 1999 before stepping down.
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 He originally made a YouTube channel in 2007 which focused on performing magic tricks.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 voice impressions he did was of Cleveland Brown, whom he would go on to voice officially 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.
Zahir is also a musician, releasing music under the moniker 4rif. He released his debut album At Last Sight on August 30, 2019. On April 29, 2020, he released a follow-up EP titled Go Gadget/Blues Clues 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 inherit the role. On September 25, 2020, it was announced that Zahir would be voicing Cleveland beginning in season 20 of Family Guy.
Filmography Film YearTitleRoleNotes2014No One But LydiaArifShort film; credited as Arif Lopes2016EraserDeathShort film; credited as Arif LopesThe Invisible ShadowThe Bagged ManShort film; credited as Arif Lopes2017Everyone But MeAndreShort filmHues and Hidden KingsA Hidden KingShort film2019 The Golden Realm: An American Larping ExperiencePeter, KalthorShort film
Television +YearTitleRoleNotes2016CliffhangerTed3 episodes2016–2018GumbinoCleveland Brown, PikachuWeb series; 8 episodes; voice role2018G.P.A.Xander Holland4 episodes2018–presentHow It Should Have EndedBlack Panther / T'Challa3 episodes; voice role2019Internet RichHimself1 episode2020Party ChatArifWeb series; also producer2020VENN: Arcade LiveHimselfEpisode "Voice Impressions with Azerrz + WWE Superstar Zelina Vega Throw Down"2021–presentFamily GuyCleveland BrownVoice role; main role, replaced Mike Henry starting in season 20 after he stepped down2021RockyClubberVoice role2022American Dad!Reginald, Police Officer2 episodes; voice roleRobot ChickenNelson Mandela, Domino's customer1 episode; voice role
Video games YearTitleRoleNotes2018No Way Out – A Dead Realm TaleEdgar, William Huxley, librarian, ClownVoice roles 2025 Fortnite Battle Royale Cleveland BrownVoice role
Music videos {| class="wikitable sortable" !Year !Song !Artist !Role !Director |- ! rowspan="2" |2018 | Down the Line |Lokl Yokl |The Bartender |Ryan Rosenblum |- |Drunk with You |Joe Thomas Carter featuring 4rif | rowspan="5" |Himself |Zane Morrow |- ! rowspan="2" |2019 |August |4rif |Fowluh |- |''Gimme Ya Lovin|Joe Thomas Carter featuring 4rif | rowspan="2" |Christina Xing |- ! rowspan="2" |2020 |At Last Sight/Kids | rowspan="2" |4rif |- |The Window |Ryan Rosenblum
Radio YearTitleRoleNotes2021sRadio 104.9 (TRC)TedVoice role; guest appearance on episode "Ted Joins the Show"
Discography Albums +List of albumsTitleDetailsAt Last Sight Released: August 30, 2019 Formats: Digital download, streaming
Extended plays +List of extended plays Title EP details Go Gadget/Blues Clues Released: April 29, 2020 Formats: Digital download, streaming Venture Releasing: 2021 or 2022 Formats: Digital download, streaming
SinglesAs lead artistList of singles as lead artist Title Year Album"August"2018At Last Sight"Summers End"2019"Wonderful Miracle"At Last Sight"Channel Lovely""Go Gadget" 2020Go Gadget/Blues Clues"Blues Clues" "Favorite Girl""Ignore Me""Cafe in LA"2021"Leave Me (August II)""Note to Me"2022As featured artistList of singles as featured artist''' Title Year Album"Hope County" 2018Year 3"Drunk with You" "Gimme Ya Lovin'" 2019"G League"(DLNQNT featuring 4rif)DZJNTD Vol. 1 – DNT PLY
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