The Saudi born festival focuses its attention further on the regional music scene with the launch of a record label aiming to showcase Arab talent on an international stage alongside world renowned acts.
At the end of 2019, the electronic music world, seemingly overnight, focused all of its attention on an unknown festival coming out of the unlikely location of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After decades of strict rules against parties of its kind, MDLBEAST shed all perceptions of the country's conservatism, exploding into life with an unprecedented line-up of international superstars such as David Guetta, Marco Carola and Afrojack, alongside regional up-and-comers, behemoth production setups to rival that of Tomorrowland and pretty much every celebrity and influencer in the world raving in its crowds.
Alas, its 2020 edition, along with almost every other festival around the world was cancelled following the pandemic, but that by no means meant MDLBEAST's brand halted its momentum. During the lockdown, they launched the hugely popular virtual festival series ‘Freqways’, which united music lovers all over the world - with a special focus on the Middle East - hosting the best Arab dance music acts in Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and everywhere in between.
Today, they have just the launch of MDLBEAST Records. The label will focus on the best recording artists, DJs and producers from across the region, before eventually growing into a series of sub-labels focused on various sounds, ranging from underground deep house and techno, to EDM and Afrobeat.
‘'MDLBEAST is all about amplifying the unseen, building a platform for Arab Artists to showcase their talent to the world & bring international artists closer to Arab audiences," says Talal Albahiti, Chief Operating Officer of MDLBEAST. "Launching our label MDLBEAST Records is another big milestone on our journey to create cultural exchange through music."
The first release will be a multiple artist album, Soundstorm Volume 1, with the inaugural single arriving in the form 'Ringtone' by R3HAB, which comes with its own unique video, and is set for release on February 26th. The full is marked for release in April with tracks by superstars like Salvatore Ganacci, BUTCH and Afrojack, as well as rising local talents like Cosmicat.
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