Beats to Bishts: DJ Cosmicat on Saudi’s Exploding Dance Music Scene

Expanding from a three-day to four-day event, this year’s MDLBEAST Soundstorm is shaping up to be a belter. The mega festival in December will feature the world’s topflight EDM, house, deep house and techno DJs. It’s also supporting local and regional talent, like DJ Cosmicat.

Cosmicat – aka Nouf Sufyani – is leading the way for female DJs in Saudi. The young DJ and producer is on the festival line-up for the second time, after playing the first MDLBEAST Soundstorm in 2019. Witnessing dance music explode in Saudi, Cosmicat is keen to support other creatives within the country’s emerging electronic music scene.

“Electronic music was one of the least popular music genres in Saudi in the past,” says Cosmicat. “The electronic music community used to very small and very exclusive but all of this has changed in the past couple of years. Seeing 400,000 people show up to dance in unity at MDLBEAST in 2019 truly proved that electronic dance music is very valuable and important in Saudi.

The Creators

“The electronic music scene in Saudi is also growing because of the artists and creators who keep producing and defining our unique sound,” adds Cosmicat, pointing to fellow DJs and producers like Desert Fish and Vinyl Mode. She also praises “other creators who don’t make music but make the shows mind-blowing” through visual art technology, like Maryam Tariq.

Dance music’s growing popularity is boosting the local fashion industry too. “The electronic music scene is closely related to fashion here in Saudi,” explains Cosmicat. “Local designers are now designing unique ravewear that relates to our culture, such as colorful bishts.” For those that don’t know, a bisht is a traditional men’s cloak.

With this year’s MDLBEAST Soundstorm looming on the horizon, Cosmicat hopes electronic music in Saudi will continue to gain momentum. “I want to see it expanding and becoming the biggest creative force in the world,” she says. “And I wish to see more and more women on stage.”

The MDLBEAST Soundstorm megafest runs 16 – 19 December on a huge purpose-built site located 40 minutes outside of Riyadh.

Also read: Saudi Festival MDLBEAST Soundstorm Reveals Mighty DJ Line-Up