Rabat – Governor of Mecca Prince Khaled al-Faisal has called on authorities to arrest female rapper Asayel Slay for releasing the rap song “Mecca Girl.”
The song extols Saudi women in the holy city, describing them as powerful and beautiful.
“Mecca girl is sugar candy,” she sings.
The video, filmed in a café, shows the rapper singing while a man and a woman were dancing behind her.
The song has been widely shared on social media. Hundreds of men and women shared the video song and tweeted about the song.
The hashtag #Mecca_Girl-Represents-Me is now trending on Twitter in both English and Arabic.
The song angered the governor of Mecca, Prince al-Faisal who ordered the arrest of the Eritrean singer for insulting the “customs of Mecca.”
The order came in a tweet from the prince.
The tweet included the hashtag in Arabic reading: #They_are_not_from_Mecca.
The rap song has divided opinion on social media. While some criticized the singer for not being originally from Saudi Arabia for her African descendants, others supported her and called officials in Saudi Arabia hypocrites.
أمير مكة #خالد_الفيصل يوجه بإيقاف المسؤولين عن إنتاج فيديو أغنية الراب ( بنت مكه ) الذي يسيء لعادات وتقاليد أهالي مكة ويتنافى مع هوية وتقاليد أبنائها الرفيعة.
.. تضمن توجيه سموه إحالتهم للجهات المختصه للتحقيق معهم وتطبيق العقوبات بحقهم.#لستن_بنات_مكه pic.twitter.com/zVqggEujfh— إمارة منطقة مكة (@makkahregion) February 20, 2020
Saudi Arabia recently loosened some restrictions to promote the image of Saudi Arabia as part of the 2020 reform program.
In addition to visa regulation updates in the country, Saudi Arabia also invites renowned international singers to perform at its festival.
Saudi Arabia recently invited s Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj, among others.
Mecca girl ? I’m feeling this ? pic.twitter.com/bYeZEp1Mvs
— Mohammed Fahad Kamal (@mfk600) February 23, 2020
Rights groups and activists are condemning the arrest of the rapper.
Amnesty International said it is “deeply concerned by the news of Saudi authorities arresting Saudi rap singer Asayel for her song ‘Bint Mecca.’”
Amnesty International accused Saudi Arabia of “selling itself as progressive by hosting [sic] major music festival & international artists.” The NGO asked: “What’s with the hypocrisy?”
