Mecca governor has ordered the arrest of a young female rapper after taking issue with her music video “Bint Mecca”, which means Mecca Girl. Saudi officials stated that the song was offensive to the customs and traditions of the holy city.
In the video, the Saudi woman, Ayasel Slay, rapped about being proud to be from Mecca and that women from Mecca had exceeded all other Saudi women in beauty and strength.
The song describes women from Mecca as being “powerful and beautiful”, and includes lyrics such as, “Our respect to other girls but the Mecca girl is sugar candy”.
“A Mecca girl is all you need – Don’t upset her, she will hurt you,” she sang in the video while men and women were dancing behind her in a café. “With her, you can complete the Sunna [i.e. get married] – Your life with her will become Paradise”, she continued.
The music video was released on her YouTube channel last week but then was removed.
On 20 February 2020, Mecca regional authorities said in a Tweet that the governor had issued orders to prosecute Ayasel and her video production team.
“Prince Khalid bin Faisal of Mecca has ordered the arrest of those responsible for the Mecca Girl rap song, which offends the customs and traditions of the people of Mecca and contradicts the identity and traditions of its population,” the tweet said.