"Mecca Girl" outraged the Saudi authorities. In this song - "La fille de La Mecque" in French - the rapper Asayel Slay salutes the courage of women living in the holy city and describes them as "sugar candies". The clip shows the veiled young woman, sunglasses on her head.
Neither one nor two, the authorities of Mecca, through the voice of their governor, Khaled al-Faiçal, ordered the arrest of the Saudi rapper who, according to them, offends "the customs and traditions" of the holiest city of Islam. A decision contrasting with the recent lifting of restrictions on entertainment in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
Khaled al-Faiçal's comments sparked outrage on the Internet. "I come from Mecca and the only thing I find offensive is your racism and misogyny and your war against a young woman," said a Saudi Internet user on Twitter, referring in particular to the fact that the young woman is black.
"It's so typical of the Saudi government: inviting Western influencers to clean up the crimes of the regime but attacking real Saudi women who are trying to artistically express their cultural identity," said another internet user.
Saudi authorities are spending millions to attract western artists to give themselves a good international image but at the same time imprison Asayel Slay, a local rapper artist for a simple clip. Ashamed and hypocritical! https://t.co/1BP388C2f9
- R. (@ RiadhThe9) February 23, 2020Under the impetus of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a strong man of the kingdom seeking to rid him of his ultra-conservative image, Ryad encourages the development of entertainment on its territory. An electronic music festival was organized in December near the capital, which was attended by many Saudi women, sometimes without veils.
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But this softening of social norms - welcomed by the inhabitants, two thirds of whom are under 30 years old - was also accompanied by repression from opponents. NGOs have thus denounced the arrest of journalists, writers and activists in November, and the kingdom remains under scrutiny by the international community on its human rights record.