Caley Koch
Rabat – Lil Wayne performed at the sold-out Diriyah Music Festival on Saturday, November 30, alongside Tyga and Future as part of Saudia Arabia’s Ad Diriyah season in the capital Riyadh.
However, the rapper found himself facing strict laws concerning drug use.
In an angry tweet, Lil Wayne stated that he is “never going to Riyadh again.”
There was no further elaboration, yet commentators and spectators suspect that he was sent back to the US for the use of marijuana.
Drug use of any kind is illegal in Saudia Arabia, with police arresting users. Saudi Arabia also punishes drug dealing with the death penalty.
Saudi Arabians did not take the rapper’s tweet lightly. In response to the US rapper’s tweet, many Saudia Arabian Twitter users criticized him for not considering Saudi law before traveling to the country.
Drugs are not allowed in Saudia Arabia and I am sure that our guys informed you before, and you thought that we are kidding,so shut up and go back to your home .
— GASSAN (@gassan_z) December 1, 2019
With all due respect, when you receive an invitation from a foreign country, before accepting that invitation, would you please read about the country and its regulations first? Not allowing weed in Saudi doesnt make us bad. FYI, even in US, some states still prohibiting weed
— تركي البقعاوي
(@TS_Observer) December 1, 2019
(@TS_Observer) Im sure they have informed you, drugs are not allowed here. But you though we are in desert, who will know !!
— نواف العصيمي (@NawafOsaimi) December 1, 2019
Lil Wayne has since deleted his tweet.
This is not the first time that performers have run into trouble with Saudi Arabian laws against drug use.
In 2017, a local singer was arrested for performing “the dab,” a popular dance move that originated from Atlanta rapper Skippa da Flippa’s viral video “How Fast Can You Count It.”
Saudi Arabia’s National Committee for Combating Drugs has grown more concerned with the popularity of the dance move as they associate it with sniffing drugs.
Even though Saudi Arabia has attracted many internationally established performers such as K-Pop stars, BTS, and 50 Cent, many artists decline invitations to perform in the country due to “human rights abuses,” says the New Arab.
For example, Nicki Minaj refused to perform at the Jeddah festival to demonstrate her “support for the rights of women, the LGBTQ community and freedom of expression.”
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