The Walk With Raffa | MDLBEAST is Roaring Saudi's Cultural Storm "We're not just centralizing culture in the capital. We're spreading it—north, south, east, west. If Saudi is going to evolve, everyone needs to feel it," says Ramadan Alharatani, CEO of MDLBEAST.

It's not every day that you watch Guns N' Roses tear up a stage in Riyadh, with tens of thousands singing their lungs out under the desert skies.

Here we are: after Gimmix, local young band performing a 30 min energizing intro to the legends, next to me, as the crowd sways to Welcome to the Jungle, is Ramadan Alharatani, CEO of MDLBEAST, grinning like someone watching a dream he once scribbled on a napkin come to life.

We're walking between backstage tents and tunneled pathways: while the music is loud and vibrating, what Ramadan's built in just a few years is a pure, roaring cultural storm.

"We didn't just start a festival. We unlocked unity and the opportunity of enjoying life, together."

I asked him how MDLBEAST started. He doesn't give me the polished company story. Instead, it's this, "In 2019, we knew social change would have been the most difficult. So, we threw a party - Soundstorm. We hoped maybe 50,000 people would come. 400,000 showed up. We knew then: this wasn't just an event. It was a bringing together these pockets of diverse communities together and enjoying openly, outside their homes or private parties, without music being a taboo for anyone."

That first Soundstorm, just outside Riyadh, was a cultural jolt. It wasn't just music. It was a unique moment. Special and different. It was people - young and old, conservative and rebellious, male and female - finally now flying out but hearing their own rhythm echoed back at full volume, at home. "It was all about people dancing together, being together, enjoying with no taboos. At that liberation point, that moment meant a lot for us. It was a cultural change similar to the one Americans experienced with the Woodstock of '69 or the break of the Berlin Wall for German people. We didn't know that a music festival would have been one of the strongest means to change a nation and open doors to a new creative scene."

Raffaella Campagnoli and Ramadan Alharatani, CEO of MDLBEAST.

Since 2019, when the Saudi Entertainment Company launched the Seasons all over the Country organizing event spaces mainly by licensing international IPs, MDLBEAST has only grown. It's grown inside Saudi Arabia, with Saudis, as a change catalyst, supported by local and international communities. Last year, almost 450,000 people attended Soundstorm.

At one point, Ramadan gestures toward the crowd. "This? This is Saudi Vision, live and loud."

And he's right. MDLBEAST is a direct response to Saudi Arabia's bold national transformation plan - a push to diversify the economy, empower the youth, seeing the first ever Saudi female DJs on set, and build a vibrant cultural and creative scene that reflects the energy of its people. It's not just about concerts. It's about a country daring to evolve into the creative scene - and doing it, unapologetically.

By 2030, creative industries are planned by Saudi Vision to represent up to 1% of Saudi's GDP. As entertainment industry internationally positioned and (for now) directly operating only in KSA, their ROI is way higher than expected: in 2023, MDLBEAST ecosystem created almost 2B SAR opportunity to the local economy (estimation for 2024 is a +15% contribution vs 2023) with a 40% contribution to travel industry, 17% to entertainment and 16% to hospitality.

"We're aligned with government goals, yes. As part of the quality of life improvement journey, our drive is grassroots. This is the unseen mega-project which we are proudly building every year bigger."

While starting alone the first music festival in Jeddah back in 2019 and being exposed to music education and collecting CDs back in the US where he studied while listening recorded MTV mixes when back home for the summer break, Ramadan now operates with a structure of 200 employees and leverages on a network of over 7,000 people each year, leapfrogging the music ecosystem across different productions, from stage riggers to sound techs to emerging Saudi DJs.

"We're not just centralizing culture in the capital. We're spreading it—north, south, east, west. If Saudi is going to evolve, everyone needs to feel it."

MDLBEAST events are popping up in Jeddah, AlUla, Neom, DGDA and smaller towns we wouldn't expect. The Seasons are spreading around many locations almost all year long: I was personally impressed by the incredibly cultural movement MDLBEAST is creating. Never, ever seen such a diverse crowd, dancing together and singing like there is no tomorrow. Fearless, empowering diversity and gender mix, boosting freedom in an unbelievably powerful multi-directional journey.

It's not just about EDM either. You'll see jazz nights, traditional fusions, orchestras, indie showcases, and yes - rock legends and young local rock bands like tonight. The sound is diversifying, just like the audience. We are opening new hospitality venues. Indeed, he goes: "next time, I will invite you soon to our new vinyl cigar lounge or to our Attaché Restaurant in DQ where you will try out the new vibes".

MDLBEAST operates as a private company with a creative mission and collaborates as ecosystem main creative player with major government entities such as the Ministry of Culture - Ramadan sits on the Music Commission Board - GEA, Ministry of Tourism, STA, RCRC, DGDA, Red Sea. The company is now syncing music into other cultural moments like F1 in Jeddah, Formula E in Diriyah, Fashion Futures, and the Red Sea Film Festival. Music isn't just a layer anymore: it's central to how Saudi tells its story while enlarging the industry ecosystem from sound to a multi-industry perspective.

"Whether it's racing, cinema, or couture—we ask: what's the sound of this moment?" Backstage, I ask about the "what's next." Ramadan doesn't talk about bigger fireworks or headliners.

"We're building an industry. You don't get transformation from one good party. You get it when you give people a way to live and grow through it."

Together with an amazingly young and passionate team, MDLBEAST is developing as a broad and multi disciplinary ecosystem play, impacting on the people of now and preparing the new generations to the new Saudi. Education, support, acceleration, mentorship, sponsorship, international growth of local talents are within its mission. That means activating a set of capabilities converging into MDLBEAST cultural storm, such as, on top of the events:

• XP Music Futures: part conference, part scene-building lab. Artists, execs, tech heads - all discussing and exchanging ideas in Riyadh every year since 2021;

• The BEAST HOUSE: MDLBEAST's incubator for local talent where music production, sound engineering, even event logistics happen;

• MDLBEAST Records, progressive and independent Saudi Arabian label set up to release, distribute and amplify unique sounds. From empowering local & regional scenes to releasing anthems from the biggest international dance artists;

• MDLBEAST RADIO, bringing all over the main cities in the Kingdom the best beats, hottest tracks, and latest hits from across the globe, with a special spotlight on Saudi music legends in the making;

• MDLBEAST Foundation, fostering, in alignment with the Ministry of Culture, a human centric music industry that promotes well being, sustainable practices and a more conscious music ecosystem through innovative and educational initiatives and research.

By now, the encore has started. People are dancing. Phones are out, selfies are thousands. Ramadan's watching the crowd more than the stage. I ask what this all means to him, personally. He's quiet for a beat. Then: "I think of a 17-year-old kid in Tabuk, hearing this and thinking, 'Wait - I can be part of this?' That's when you know you're doing something real. Music education has started last year in elementary schools for the first time. This is a huge, historic, milestone for our nation."

MDLBEAST is filling a space that didn't exist before - a place where culture, identity, unity, freedom and ambition converge. And where being Saudi means more than it did yesterday.

As we walk back out toward the cars, someone yells "Ramadan!" and waves. He smiles, embraces friends and smiles with them. He might not be a global celebrity - however - to a generation, he's part of the reason the lights are finally on and the volume is finally up!