Text by Dawoud Kringle

An unprecedented cultural change is happening in Saudi Arabia. After decades of rule wherein the Saudi dynasty has attempted to institute their interpretation of Shari’ah, big changes are happening.

The documented history of music in the Kingdom goes back around 120 years. Between 1903 and 1905, the first record was made by the Dutch consulate in Saudi Arabia. It featured voices singing songs accompanying the Hajj rituals, and singing songs together that appeared to be related to social rituals.

The pioneer of the 1950s scene was Tariq Abdul Hakim (1912-2012), a former farmer who memorized songs passed down through his ancestors singing before him. He received a scholarship to study music in Egypt and then established the Saudi song in terms of melody and lyrics via Egyptian, Lebanese, and Syrian Arab singers.

Abdul Hakim took traditional songs that had been passed down by ear, and set them down in music on paper, documenting and consolidating the form of Saudi music. All of his tunes, up until the 1970s, were the product of a reflective spirit and an emotional connection to the region’s identity and heritage.

Talal Maddah was famous in the Arab world for his mastery of performing three couplets within the melodies of the songs he composed. Another artist, Muhammad Abdu, also played a significant role in preserving the spiritual essence of Saudi and Arab “tarab”, the poetic expression and melodic composition, serving as an inward meditation and a personal journey through gradually unfolding emotional states. 

In the early 2000s, hip hop began emerging in Saudi Arabia. It was initially criticized for the presumed vulgarity of its lyrics from a population unfamiliar with the genre. In 2007, Klash, one of the first rappers in Saudi Arabia, was sentenced to three months in jail for using profanities and allegedly racist lyrics in his songs.  Another rapper, Skinny, received death threats for the lyrics in his song ‘Pussy, Money, Kush’.

In the years since the scene has shifted towards more positive messages directed predominantly at the youth. One example is Klash. After serving his sentence, he released the track ‘Mother.’ This quickly attracted millions of views online and helped put him in a more agreeable light in the public eye (even government officials approved of and enjoyed this track).

Rapper Qusai Kheder presented his work on the Arabs Got Talent television show. He introduced songs in English but raps in both Arabic and English. Considered one of Saudi Arabia’s first rappers, Qusai has been rapping for more than 30 years. Inspired by artists like NWA and Tupac Shakur, his songs blend hip hop with traditional Saudi folk melodies and explore social issues such as unemployment, and interpersonal issues such as marriage without the use of profanities. Some years back, Qusai recently released a single titled ‘Get lost.’ It spoke about a new generation of artists whom he believes need to lose their negativity and bad energy. Another of his songs in Arabic embraces teachers, who play a critical role in society.

Another example is comedian-turned-rapper Moayad. He merges his poetic Arabic lyricism with traditional hip hop beats in a stylistic manner, paying homage to his love for rap music.

In 2013, Saudi Arabia was the largest user of YouTube per capita in the world. This has allowed rappers to significantly increase their reach and fame. In addition to Qusai and Klash, other rappers in Saudi Arabia include Lil Fazy, who mostly raps about having fun, and Shiboba, an artist based in the religious city of Mecca, who raps in Arabic about social and community issues.

Hassan Ahmad Dennaoui, a.k.a Big Hass, a radio show host on Mix FM and blogger from Jeddah now based in Dubai has helped promote these artists. This helped hip hop to gain wider social acceptance. Big Hass has noticed the change on his own radio show, which he uses to introduce hip hop artists to a young audience. The first time he presented the show in 2011, the station received a text message from a listener calling him “al-kuffar” (an infidel). He was concerned but felt that he was doing nothing wrong, so he continued his work. Eventually, people thanked him for what he was doing to change the public perception of hip hop. One of the people who reached out to him was a man who said he used to forbid his son from writing poetry with music, but after listening to Big Hass’ show, he ended up accepting and encouraging it.

Qusai and others in the Saudi music community feel that the perception of Saudi rappers has changed, but also believe that there is no solidarity between them. Many groups and entities have problems and disagreements with each other. Many of these disagreements have very long histories that Westerners do not understand. However, some artists, Qusai and Big Hass are attempting to build bridges and unify the music community in the kingdom and the Arab world.  

While hip hop has become a noticeable cultural phenomenon in Saudi Arabia, other genres of music have begun to flourish. This resurgence of Saudi Arabian music is gaining recognition at various music festivals,  showcasing its musical heritage and its embrace of diverse, contemporary genres. Saudi musicians have begun to redefine cultural perceptions by blending traditional melodies with modern musicality. Much of this involves embracing cultural identity through a revival of traditional Arabian music, with modern interpretations. Local musicians are attempting to establish a balance between preserving their heritage and venturing into new territories with their sound.

Some examples of this are Abdullah Rashad and Talal Maddah, who have successfully blended traditional and modern musical approaches to create and redefine Saudi music and appeal to a newer generation of listeners. Cosmicat creates house and techno-inspired music. Others are experimenting with pop, Rock’n’Roll, Metal, electronic, and alternative in a willingness to cross genre boundaries and forge a path for Saudi music.  

The history of metal music in Saudi Arabia deserves attention. Metal in Arabia dates back to the late 1990s. It continued to grow during the 2000s, until today. During that era, the first metal and hard rock bands didn’t receive a warm welcome, especially since they came from the West and were socially taboo. However, for fans of the genre, every city in The Kingdom had some form of a rock/metal scene. In Riyadh, bands such as Dune, Crimson, Native Notes, and Hemic had loyal local followings, while in Jeddah the most popular metal bands were Wasted Land, Immortal Pain, and Skeleton Crowd. In smaller cities, metal bands such as Wrywreath, Creative Waste, Sound of Ruby, and Sharjah-based DJ-turned musician Meshari Sangora, earned underground audiences and struggled to survive in a culture largely hostile to the genre.

In February 2018, Saudi Arabia hosted its first-ever jazz festival. Artists like Delfeayo Marsalis and Incognito performed, and Saudi musicians such as the fusion band Min Alriyadh, and an amateur group of North American and European ex-pats, the Dharan Big Band.

The Saudi Music Hub theater in Riyadh recently held an event called “Jazzin About,” an evening dedicated to jazz. Nourah Alammary and Magda on vocals, Mazen Lawand on piano, Karin Kotb on the double bass, Hasan on drums, and Mohammed Hakeem on trumpet. Jazz has been gaining ground among local artists. This is not surprising, as Arabic music has, at its heart, lots of improvisation, a quality it shares with jazz. Jazz and Arabic music share a lot of commonalities. The educated listener can hear the influences of music from North and West Africa, Spain, and the Middle East in jazz.

The first government-backed jazz performance was in 2017 at the King Fahad Cultural Center. The first official Riyadh jazz festival, Groovz, in February 2018, was followed by the Jeddah Jazz Fest in March at King Abdullah Economic City, the largest festival of its kind in the Kingdom at the time.. 

The MDLBEAST Soundstorm Festival was first launched in 2019 in Riyadh  It has been instrumental in spotlighting Saudi Arabian artists and providing a space for intercultural dialogue and artistic collaboration. The event had its beginnings as an electronic festival, and Saudi musicians were allowed to showcase their sound to a global audience. It has a significant impact on the development of the Saudi music scene, as well as on international discussions of cultural exchange and artistic freedom. The 2023 lineup included Metallica, Wiz Khalifa, Travis Scott, Black Eyed Peas, and 50 Cent.

Western classical music and Opera are also included within the framework of the most prominent international festivals. The interest in Western classical music comes with barriers related to music taste and trends. In 2008, a German-based quartet, the Artis Piano Quartet, staged Saudi Arabia’s first-ever performance of European classical music at a government-run cultural center before a mixed-gender audience. They presented works by Mozart, Brahms, and Paul Juon. There was some debate before the concert about whether Japanese pianist Hiroko Atsumi, the quartet’s only woman, should perform in an abaya. She ended up settling on a long green top and black trousers.

This set the stage for more performances of Western classical music in the kingdom. Al-Halimoon (meaning dreamers in Arabic), a culture-based entrepreneurship incubator, recently hosted a couple of Saudi musicians, Noori Al-Khalaf, a pianist, and Ghassan Raffa, a violinist, in a 19th-century classical music soiree in Jeddah, West of Saudi Arabia. There is also the Arabian Philharmonic Orchestra, who have supported Andrea Bocelli in Du Arena, Abu Dhabi, performed in the heritage surrounds of Al Ula and Khobar in Saudi Arabia, performed at the Dubai Opera, headlined Symphony in the Park at Um Al Emarat Park in Abu Dhabi, supported Katherine Jenkins in recital at Dubai Opera, work with Arabic composers for Broken Wings, play in the Broadway’s longest running musical Phantom of the Opera and perform at the Sustainability Awards and World Urban Forum 2020.

Some projects intended to preserve Arabian music include dedicating a museum to the famous Saudi musician Tariq Abdul Hakim in Jeddah in 2020, and opening the Music Research Centre as a historical nucleus for research and writing in the field of Saudi music and song history. Additionally, the Kingdom’s largest artistic theatre was named after the legendary Saudi performer and composer Talal Maddah.

Paul Pacifico, the CEO of the recently formed Saudi Music Commission, revealed that the organization seeks to unleash the creative and commercial potential of music in Saudi Arabia. During a discussion panel at the 2023 All That Matters (ATM) conference in Singapore, Pacifico shared his opinions on how the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia aims to become a powerful player in the music industry. The discussion centered around music progress in the Kingdom after Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman officially established the Saudi Music Commission in February of 2020 (in 2023, ATM conference attendees included CEO of Primary Wave Larry Mestel, cofounder and co-CEO of Beatdapp Andrew Batey, CEO of Chartmetric Sung Cho, and representatives of TikTok, Venice Music, Bandwagon, WMG, UMG, SME, Believe, YouTube, Spotify, Meta, Google, Luminate, and Netflix).

The presence of a Commission focused on expanding Saudi music represents a major shift in the country. Until five years ago, KSA prohibited music. Now, according to Pacifico, public performances are encouraged and promoted. There has been controversy among similar non-oil expansions by the kingdom. They have been criticized for using sports and culture to deflect from more critical events occurring in the Kingdom, among them are accusations of human rights violations. 

Changes are happening in the realm of women’s rights. Haya Alhejailan, a female Saudi musician, performs on festival stages alongside her band. A short time ago, this was impossible. Not only couldn’t she sing in public, she could only play her guitar in the privacy and secrecy of her home. 

While Saudi Arabia attempts to improve its image with the relaxation of rules on women being able to drive and the lift on bans of cinemas and concerts, there are still restrictions. The General Entertainment Authority was still warning against “dancing and swaying” as recently as 2018. In 2019, Nikki Minaj was pressured to cancel an appearance at a festival in Jeddah over continued gender segregation in restaurants, schools, and universities.

Saudi Arabia is one of the key players in the MENA (Middle East North Africa) region, where recorded music revenue grew by 23.8% in 2022. This became a significant focal point for the global music industry and presented new opportunities for artists who have struggled with the challenges and lack of opportunities presented by the KSA’s former policies. After a desert site outside Riyadh hosted one of the world’s largest raves in November 2022, the city now sees more than $64 billion in entertainment investment. Much of that investment fund will go towards the promotion of the live music industry. The Saudi Music Commission’s apparent commitment to investing in the arts presents possible opportunities for Saudi artists and the global music industry. This will require not only technological innovations, but experienced music professionals (such as instructors, record labels, and music instrument manufacturers) for it to succeed. The kingdom revealed plans to train and hire thousands of new music teachers and introduce music to children as early as kindergarten. 

51% of the population of Saudi Arabia is under 25 years of age, and 75% are under 35. The kingdom is starting to be more open to their needs and wishes. In 2016, Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz and the Saudi government instituted the Vision 2030 Project, which aims to reduce the country’s dependence on oil (which currently accounts for more than half of the country’s revenue) by diversifying its economy. This includes investing and supporting the arts, and creating a thriving music industry by nurturing an ecosystem where talent thrives. The Kingdom has since launched efforts to place creativity, youth, and women at the hub of all its initiatives.

In tandem with Vision 2030, KSA also established the General Entertainment Authority. One of its many objectives is to increase household spending on entertainment activities within the Kingdom. With a focus on that aspect, the ruler launched widespread policy changes, beginning with removing restrictions on public entertainment events. Since then, the country has reported substantial economic and social growth.

It is quite impossible to examine the arts in Arabia without considering Islam as an irreplaceable and integral factor. Some Hadiths (sayings and biographical accounts of the Prophet Muhammad sas) may put music in an unfavorable light. There have been many interpretations of these teachings, and some of these Hadiths may be of questionable authenticity. On the other hand, the Qur’an (which Muslims believe are authentic Divine Revelation and not the product of human intellect or imagination) says nothing about music. However, there is a passage in the Qur’an that is instructive:

“Shall I inform you of whom the devils descend upon? They descend upon every sinful liar, who gives an attentive ear to half-truths, mostly passing on sheer lies. As for poets, they are followed by mere deviants. Do you not see how they rant in every field, only saying what they never do? Except those who believe, do good, remember Allah often, and ˹poetically˺ avenge ˹the believers˺ after being wrongfully slandered. The wrongdoers will come to know what ˹evil˺ end they will meet.” (Qur’an Surah Ash-Shu’arah 26:221-227. Translation by Dr. Mustafa Khattab. Italics are mine)

This places a responsibility upon poets, and by default, musicians to use their talents in a manner aligned with justice, honesty, and social responsibility.