Saudi Arabian Rapper Asayel Slay is facing arrest for a song aimed at celebrating the women of Mecca and showing “respect to other girls”.
After the music video for Bint Mecca (Mecca Girl) was released last week, the governor of Mecca, Khalid bin Faisal, denounced it as being an insult to the “customs and traditions” of the holy city.
“They are not the girls of Mecca,” he said on Twitter in Arabic.
The song “contradicts the identity and traditions of its esteemed population and his Highness has referred [those responsible] to the competent authorities for investigation and applying penalties against them”.
Slay’s YouTube account has since been suspended and the original music video removed but it has been reposted by alternate accounts.
Asayel Slay in the music video for Mecca Girl. Source: YouTube
Slay is a young emerging rapper of Eritrean heritage. The video shows the rapper in a cafe, surrounded by children dancing in the background.
The call for her arrest and others involved in the making of the video has received a divided response from social media users.
Some have said the criticism is “racist and sexist”.
“The girl faces arrest because the song doesn't suit new Saudi Arabia or old,” one user said, according to a report.
Another said it was “basically a love letter to [Slay’s] home city”, while a third said it was one of the “only rap songs that doesn't contain a single obscenity, insult, pornographic scene, nudity, hashish or smoking”.
Others have retweeted Mr bin Faisal’s criticism and called for the “immediate deportation” and “punishment” of Slay.
Recent reforms in Saudi Arabia have seen a ban on women drivers lifted, changes to guardianship laws and increased attention being given to entertainment and the arts.
Saudi-American feminist Amani Al-Ahmadi spoke out about the arrest on Monday, saying it was “typical” of the Saudi government to “bring western influencers to artwash the regime's crimes but attack real Saudi women who try to artistically express their cultural identities”.
The tweet alluded to the kingdom’s recent efforts to modernise its international image by inviting artists such as Nicki Minaj, Liam Payne and Steve Aoki to perform at 2019 concert Jeddah World Fest.
“#MBS [Crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman] spends millions on events to promote his vision of an open and tolerant society. But when a #Saudi woman of colour raps about women like her in a beautiful tribute to her city, she’s detained!” she tweeted.
“Where’s the woman empowerment!? Where’s #vision2030, or is that for [westerners] only!?”
