The Six: Female rappers from the Middle East who are changing the game
Updated 18 November 2018
Arab News
DUBAI: These women are changing the face of rap in the Middle East with their bold lyrics and powerful prose.
Soultana
This Moroccan female rapper champions women’s rights and uses bold lyrics to tackle social issues. True to her feisty form, Soultana’s hit “Sawt Nissa” addresses sexual harassment in her home country.
Shadia Mansour
The British-Palestinian rapper uses hip-hop to highlight the Palestinian struggle. Mansour sees music as a medium for expressing dissent.
Mayam Mahmoud
The Egyptian rapper, who has been featured on CNN and the BBC for her efforts to advance women’s rights and combat sexual harassment, is making a name for herself on the rap scene.
Meryem Saci
The music of the Montreal-based songwriter of Algerian origin ranges from soulful R&B and jazz to reggae and hip-hop. Saci’s mixtape, “On My Way,” is a testament to her eclectic sound.
Malikah
The self-proclaimed “Queen of Arabic hip-hop” has established herself as one of the most important musicians in Lebanon and beyond with hard-hitting lyrics. She even opened the show for Snoop Dog in Abu Dhabi in 2011.
Ithra offers a glimpse of colorful Spain through fashion
Updated 27 January 2026
Jasmine Bager
DHAHRAN: Step into Spain without leaving Dhahran at the “Threads of Espana: Fashion Across the Spanish Regions” show currently on at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture.
From structured capes to swirling silhouettes, the show at Ithra brings the nation’s colorful fabric traditions to life.
Arab News spoke recently with Cecilia Revuelta, a co-organizer of the exhibition who flew in from Spain.
“We did a selection of traditional costumes of each area in Spain. So first of all, here we have the three costumes of a traditional torero. These suits are from a real torero who’s still active.”
A torero — from toro, meaning bull — is a Spanish bullfighter.
“His name is Jorge Garcia De La Pena, and thanks to our relationship with him, he lent us the three costumes and the two capes,” she added.
“Actually, one of the capes even has the bull blood in them; we decided not to wash it or anything because we think it’s totally more real like this.”
The clothes are on display until Jan. 31. (AN Photo)
Revuelta described the garments, split among different display areas, as “real art pieces, very heavy and delicate pieces. Also, we brought some flamenca dresses.”
“They’re from a private Spanish collector who dances flamenco and she’s a real fan of the flamenco culture. And she has a big, big, big collection of dresses and we did a small selection to bring it here to Ithra.”
Northern Spain is represented through costumes created stitch-by-stitch specifically for the Ithra exhibition.
“We also fabricated from scratch the costumes of Galicia. They’re the typical traditional costumes that they use in the north of Spain in the countryside, in the small villages. When it’s very cold and rainy and you can see they have a lot of layering and many details.”
“These dresses are very expensive because they are real, real pieces of art. One of these dresses costs more than 4,000 euros ($4,750). Most of them are handmade with a lot of details and stones and different colors and layers. It’s really amazing.”
For Revuelta, the exhibition reflects her love of fashion and its history. “It’s my favorite part (of the Spain Cultural Days festivities) because I love fashion. I love clothes since the beginning.”
Revuelta highlighted the cross-cultural nature of the event.
“I think it’s super positive for all the citizens of Dammam to come here, to get to know more about other countries, different cultures, traditions. They have a lot of workshops. And in the market, we have many different booths selling pieces of art, ceramics and traditional Spanish souvenirs.
“I feel very proud. It is my first time in Saudi Arabia and people here are really interested in knowing more about the different costumes and fashion history of Spain,” she added.
The pieces will remain on display until the completion of the Spain Cultural Days festivities on Jan. 31.
