Saudi Arabian Rapper Faces Arrest for “Mecca Girl” Music Video
The Governor of Mecca has ordered the arrest of a Saudi Arabian rapper named Asayel Slay for a music video titled Bint Mecca or Girl In Mecca.
Set in a coffee shop, the video sees Slay backed up by black children; as she raps praises of a girl from Mecca, a Saudi Arabian city and home of the holiest site in Islam.
“A Mecca girl is all you need,” Slay raps according to Al-Jazeera. “Don’t upset her, she will hurt you,”
After the controversy emerged last Thursday, the government removed the song from the rapper’s official YouTube channel. Prince Khalid bin Faisal, the governor of Mecca province deemed it blasphemous.
Faisal ordered the prosecution of Asayel and the production team involved in the video’s creation.
“[‘Bint Mecca’] offends the customs and traditions of the people of Mecca and contradicts the elevated identity and traditions of its sons,” the Governor’s official Twitter account posted on Friday.
Saudi activist Amani Al-Ahmadi told The Washington Post that the government was targetting Asayel for her darker skin color.
“It’s obviously targeted against a woman who they feel doesn’t represent what Saudi and Mecca should be. If she wasn’t a woman of color, they wouldn’t have seen her as a minority to target”, said Al-Ahmadi.
On Twitter, pro-Saudi regime accounts promoted the hashtag “#You_Are_Not_Mecca’s_Girls” and urged officials to deport Asayel, who has African ancestry.
Racism and misogyny are not an isolated occurrence in Saudi Arabia. Last year, Nicki Minaj dropped out of the Jeddah World Music Festival, an event held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“I believe it is important for me to make clear my support; for the rights of women, the LGBTQ community, and freedom of expression,” Minaj said in a statement. Eventually, Future, Chris Brown, and Janet Jackson performed in her place.
