THE members of the local hip hop band “Black Royalty” (BR), officially launched their first song called “5 Riyals” last Thursday at the popular Le Harley Cafe in Jeddah. Band members were accompanied by fans, actors from the video clip and media representatives. The video clip was aired on MTV Arabia and Wanasa on Saturday. According to BR's founding member Joe Werde, “5 Riyals” is the title of a three minute and forty seconds' long clip that highlights the status of unemployed young men who often have no more than five Saudi riyals in their pockets at a time. “It is one of the tracks in our ‘Black Royalty' album which comprises of 15 tracks that deal largely with the issues concerning Saudi youth,” explained Werde in a conversation with Saudi Gazette. “We opted to make a video of ‘5 Riyals' because finding a job is the biggest problem many young people face today.” Werde also acknowledges that many people in the Kingdom take issue with the fact that the band has chosen hip hop as its preferred genre of music. “I know that there has been much criticism about why we need to convey messages to the youth in the mould of a Western musical genre, but that's because English is a universal language,” he explained. “And when we present our problems in English, then our concerns will be sung along internationally.” Werde added that BR chose the Le Harley Cafe for the launch because most of the scenes in the video clip were shot there. The production manager of BR, Omar Abdu, added that he expects feedback from a wide set of audience along with the private feedback fans will be sending though various conduits, including music channels, groups on social networking sites like Facebook and e-mails. The band also plans to perform live with big shows lined up in Riyadh during the summer as well as some scheduled shows in Bahrain. Werde also indicated that BR's next album is in the pipeline. “There will be another surprise album by BR featuring the well-known Saudi rapper ‘Clash' and the debut song ‘Mamnou'a Shabab' will have a video that is shot primarily at Red Sea Mall,” he stated. “The song is concerned with another social issue: the dilemma our youth encounter every time they step onto the threshold of malls, restaurants, amusement parks or any other recreational areas - ‘Bachelors not allowed. Only families.'” If hip-hop is indeed, an effective way to address these kind of pressing social issues, then BR's songs and videos are certainly worth both a listen and look.
