SAUDI ARABIA (CelebrityAccess) It was announced on Wednesday that Nicki Minaj will be performing at a concert in Saudi Arabia later this month which has caused some female citizens to question why the government can be conservative toward them but liberal when it comes to the type of music it promotes.
Minaj is expected to headline the Jeddah World Festi on July 18. It has been called the “largest musical festival of its kind in the region” and, in accordance with Saudi law, will be alcohol- and drug-free. The event, taking place at the King Abdullah Sports Stadium, will be open to people 16 and older.
However, although Saudi Arabia has recently lifted some conservative restrictions like allowing movie theaters and giving women the opportunity to drive, public spaces are still mostly segregated by gender and women’s faces must be covered. That could make for an awkward contrast between a scantily clad Minaj and an audience wearing headscarves.
“You can’t ask me to wear the abaya and dress conservative to a concert where you’re bringing Nicki Minaj and all her vulgarity and her songs about shaking her ass,” one Saudi woman said, in Arabic, on a video that has been viewed more than 37,000 times. “She’s going to go and shake her ass and all her songs are indecent and about sex and shaking ass and then you tell me to wear the abaya. … What the hell?”
Steve Aoki and Liam Payne are also slated to play at the event.
I don’t mind @NICKIMINAJ performing in Saudi Arabia–if she speaks up about women’s rights there. Dedicate a song to Loujain al-Hathloul, the Nobel Peace Prize nominee who was tortured and sexually assaulted for advocating for women. Ask the crown prince to stop starving Yemen. https://t.co/cN2EsVErTl
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) July 3, 2019
I can’t attend the concert in Jeddah because my brother says no. @NICKIMINAJ Please speak up for women who can’t do anything because of the guardianship system in Saudi Arabia #StopEnslavingSaudiWomen #EndGuardianShipInSaudiArabia1084#سعوديات_نطلب_اسقاط_الولاية1084
— 🍍 (@pineabaella) July 2, 2019
