Daily Times

Saudi officials have reportedly called for the arrest of rapper Ayasel Slay after she uploaded a music video for her feminist anthem “Girl from Mecca” on YouTube. The video shows Ayasel in sunglasses hanging out in a café with a group of children dancing in the background. The lyrics reflect her pride in being a woman from Mecca, home to the holiest site in Islam, where millions flock every year.

“A Mecca girl is all you need/Don’t upset her, she will hurt you,” Ayasel raps in reference to women from Mecca exceeding “all other Saudi women in beauty and strength,” media reported. “With her, you can complete the Sunna [get married]/Your life with her will become Paradise.”

It’s exceedingly common for rappers to pay homage to their neighborhoods, hometowns, and home states in their music. But Saudi officials reportedly don’t see Ayasel’s song as a tribute to her roots. According to The Washington Post, authorities called for her arrest, claiming the song “constituted an act of blasphemy against Islam’s holiest city.”

According to the reports, the Prince Khalid bin Faisal, the governor of Mecca province, said on Twitter that the video “offends the customs and traditions of the people of Mecca and contradicts the elevated identity and traditions of its sons.”

Since then, Ayasel has deleted her official channel and taken down the video.

Notably, she isn’t the first female rapper from Saudi Arabia to release a music video: In June 2018, rapper Leesa A uploaded a YouTube clip of her rapping behind the wheel of a Hyundai right after the decades-old ban on women driving was lifted.

“I don’t need anyone to take me… Drivers’ license with me,” she says in the video, which remains on YouTube and has racked up nearly 8 million views.