“Bright, gutsy, and hard,” is how ASH, founder and lead singer of the 213 – Jeddah West Coast, a hip-hop band comprising of Americans, Saudis, Syrians, Somalis, Yemenis and Afghanis here, describes performing in Saudi Arabia. The group was founded in 1995, before which, ASH said he would “dance at his friends' parties and dreamed of mastering the American free style music genre.” He then joined with his friends and neighbors, who, like him, were hip-hop fans, and formed the 213 – Jeddah West Coast. ASH's friends, C-Jay, Sisqo, and Yasir Brown, performed at various events until 2004, when they expanded the group and now perform exclusively for companies and organizations. The group presently has 20 members. Each member has a pseudo stage name, such as, C-Jay, Sisqo, Nono, Muaiyad, Aalla, Aboudi, Rizq, Yasir Brown, The Eagle, M.J., Rayaan, Aizik, Hazim, Majoodi, Mansour, Migo, Chuppy Blue, Joker, Totti, and Fawaz. Generally performing twice a month, the group has performed in Jeddah and Yanbu, and plan to entertain audiences in other cities across the Kingdom. Apparently, most of their audience is in between the 16-30 age group. “But to say that only the new generation likes listening to rap music would be wrong; older people are our fans as well,” said ASH. He said the expatriates here are “great to interact with through the medium of music. Music gives us a positive feeling. The mixed of Saudi and expatriate audience gives the impression that they are having a good time together. This is also a way to introduce Saudi society to the rest of the world.” He said, however, that the expatriates enjoy the music more than Saudis, “as they better understand what we sing.” Unlike in other parts of the world, music shows and concerts are rare and maybe, even, unwelcome in Saudi Arabia. “It is not easy for a music group, like ours, to perform here. Since we have never performed outside the Kingdom, we can't say how it is there,” said ASH, adding that they haven't had any bad experience yet. He said the band's music and lyrics are meticulously composed so that they do not offend any one. “Once, while we were on the stage, some singers cut off the power as they hated hip-hop music. Performing in Saudi Arabia is hard, but with the passage of time, things are getting better and we hope that with the support of our fans, we will be among the best music bands,” said ASH. He said that music of the hip-hop genre has a future here. “When we first performed in 2004, few people attended our show. Now we have a large audience which is bound to increase in the coming days,” said the lead member of the band. The group, he said, keeps updating their lyrics and dance steps to keep the audience entertained. ASH said his family backs his choice of vocation. “They appreciate what we are doing as long as we do not harm our religion or our health,” he said. The group is promoted by disc jockey, DJ-KD, social groups like We the Youth, and several other sponsors. “We need support from more sponsors so that we can cut our album,” said ASH.
