Rewriting Its Cultural Future Through Sound.
What once began as a fragile idea, quietly nurtured in the imaginations of dreamers across a kingdom of ‘what ifs?’, has stepped decisively into the world. While much of the globe welcomes winter with open arms as a season of stillness, reflection and retreat, Saudi Arabia seems to quicken. The Kingdom thrums with ambition, possibility and a restless creative momentum that refuses to lie dormant.
Artists, producers and curators are no longer tracing inherited routes, instead, they are cutting their own paths through new terrain. They are discarding long-held assumptions and redrawing what it means to perform, to create, to be visible and to matter on both regional and international stages. In this instant, the past, present and future appear to fold into one another, shaping a cultural identity that was once merely imagined and is now taking physical, audible form.
PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of XP Music Futures
Much of this shift gathers around MDLBEAST, the creative engine rethinking the country’s relationship with music from the ground up. Soundstorm Festival, perhaps their most recognisable spectacle, is often described as a neon-lit convergence, a place where global headliners crash into emerging local names and where the audience itself feels capable of charging the air. Previous installments have welcomed heavyweights such as Eminem, Linkin Park and A$AP Rocky, sharing the bill with rising homegrown Arabian talents like Asayel in a rare show of cross-scene camaraderie.
Yet the pulse of this renaissance beats far beyond the headline stages. It lies in the conversations, workshops and provocations that precede the music, shaping the landscape with each exchange. Here enters XP Music Futures, a flagship MDLBEAST initiative that once a year turns Riyadh’s JAX District into something akin to a creative parliament, a space where sound, strategy and self-image are examined, challenged and reimagined by the warmth of a community eager to be involved in its own future.
“At MDLBEAST, we are organically reaching our objectives. For us, the most important part is to amplify music culture. We want to push music as an industry, as a career choice, as a tourism magnet, we have already launched a handful of festivals, conferences and a label,” says Baloo, Chief Creative Officer at MDLBEAST.
During the afternoon hours, the warehouses take on an almost academic hush, hosting panels, debates and hands-on workshops. By early evening, JAX shifts into something more fluid: a meeting place for multiple generations and backgrounds, with producers, industry figures, DJs, journalists and artist managers trading ideas in the open, all intent on reshaping what comes next. So what happens by night? You guessed it. The arenas throw their doors wide to artists from around the globe, inviting in everything from smoky, slow-blooming jazz to hip-hop sets that ignite the floor in a rush of bodies and adrenaline.
The movements guiding this new era are no longer confined to private rooms; they unfold plainly and confidently.
PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of XP Music Futures
On day one, a panel called “Fabric at 25” created room to speak about lineage and influence, about how London’s underground history resonates with Riyadh’s still-forming nightlife identity and what it means to build a scene with both memory and momentum. Later, a “Building a Sound that Resonates” talk encouraged artists to place stories of diaspora, displacement and belonging at the heart of their practice. Palestinian and Jordanian singer-songwriter Zeyne brought the room to attention with an insistence that felt both intimate and unshakeable: that language matters, that presentation matters, that selfhood should not be diluted for ease of consumption. If the world wishes to understand, they’d come closer.
“I love the Arabic language so much, and I wouldn’t change a thing about my music not having a single word in any other language. I’m in the process of decolonising my mind and one of the biggest things I can do is this. The Arabic language is so rich, diverse and poetic, one word can have a thousand meanings,” she exclaims.
“We all have a role in making a change, I am just one percent of the moving parts within this revolution and I can only wish for the next generation to continue to empower, be empowered, reclaim their own narrative and be proud of their identity.”
In many ways, this articulation captures the ethos of both MDLBEAST and XP, steadfast authenticity, a clear-eyed understanding of regional complexity and a determination to nurture artists who may one day define the future and cultural landscape. The shift from discussion to performance, from daylight to night-time, feels less like a transition and more like a continuation of the same story.
PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of XP Music Futures
If day one cast the vision, day two explored its architecture. Its programme stretched across XP’s four pillars of ‘Talent’, ‘Scene’, ‘Impact’ and ‘Innovation’, offering a panoramic view of what it means to build a music ecosystem from within.
The “Rethinking Music Journalism” panel examined the realities of covering a region in flux, grappling with fragmented communities and shifting narratives, promoting more research-based stories. “Noise Diva’s” workshop, meanwhile, opened up the creative process with rare generosity, handing producers the tools and confidence to refine their own sonic identities.
By Day Three, sessions such as “Craft Your Creative Identity” urged participants to further look inward, not for escape but for grounding, a reminder that authenticity is the only compass capable of guiding artists through a rapidly accelerating regional landscape.
As daylight receded behind the JAX District, theory yielded to sound. XP’s NITE stages flickered to life with emerging artists and label showcases, underscoring a new truth.
Still, beneath the surface of these gatherings, one thread ran constant: the term “identity”. Together, these moments confirmed something essential. ‘Identity’ is the season’s quiet heartbeat, whether cultural, sonic or creative. It surfaces everywhere – in the language of panels, in the questions posed during workshops, and in the casual conversations held amongst attendees. It’s being shaped moment by moment, and its emerging form is already distinct and recognisable as something here to stay.
“So far, music has been activated at scale in schools throughout Saudi Arabia. We have trained over 28,000 kindergarten teachers to deliver music lessons in public schools and we have prepared the curriculum by working closely with the ministry of Education. Part of our job is to form a sector that is sustainable and here for years. I think there’s huge value in bringing communities together holistically so we can try to create a virtuous circle between sectors of music in Saudi Arabia” — Paul Pacifico, CEO of the Saudi Music Commission one of the Ministry of Culture’s 11 sector-specific commissions.
So, if this year has taught us anything, it’s that Saudi Arabia is no longer wondering whether a music industry can take root; it is cultivating one openly, confidently, and with a pace the world can no longer ignore. What was once dismissed as a tentative cultural experiment now feels like a full-throttle reinvention, a sector building its own infrastructure, nurturing its own stars, and inviting global heavyweights not as distant guests but as collaborators. Saudi Arabia’s music scene isn’t emerging anymore; it’s here to stay.
