Carl Cox & Jeff Mills in Saudi Arabia
In the past few days, we’ve received a lot of messages regarding the MDL Festival in Saudi Arabia. After reading some of the articles written and the messages sent there’s a few things worth highlighting.
In general, it can be said that playing events that are linked to governments is always tricky to say the least. Looking at the festival’s line up, it’s harder to find big name DJs who’re not going to play MDL Beast Soundstorm than big DJs who accepted the gig. So we’re wondering why do people pretend that it’s only Carl Cox & Jeff Mills playing there and the whole anger is directed towards them? Why are the few black people on the line up face different moral standards than anyone else?
Jeff Mills recently explained himself on why he made the decision to accept the gig. While we couldn’t follow all the points he made, we do think that some of them make sense. However, again why does Jeff Mills have to explain himself while other DJs get away?
Reading some of the criticism directed at Jeff Mills, it was ridiculous to see DJs parading the Palestine flag on social media (all while playing for Boiler Room) getting involved.
The whole discussion revealed once again that the nightlife industry is still at least undecided about their moral compass. While some have very strict beliefs they hold high, others seem to be willing to sell the whole nightlife industry to the highest bidder.
From a broader point of view it’s notable that other industries are having similar discussions at the moment and it seems that especially in sports (particularly soccer). The IOC, FIFA and other governing bodies in sports have come under criticism for their lack of transparency and complacency regarding human rights violations of their partners. The NBA just recently found out the hard way what happens when powerful people dare to criticize a government and same goes for the Premier League.
While many people in powerful positions have understood that with the investment of some governments comes some restrictions regarding criticism, there are some rare exceptions who still dare to speak up. World Cup winner Mesut Özil, Steve Simon (CEO WTA) are amongst those who have recently used their platforms to speak up.
In the end it seems like Carl Cox & Jeff Mills are getting the blame which should be directed towards the whole industry. So people writing these articles & comments should ask themselves what their part is in all of this? Talking to women who’ve recently lived in Saudi Arabia, it seems like cancelling the festival altogether isn’t the solution. DJs could use their platform to inform their audience about what’s going on in Saudi Arabia instead of the usual promo pictures. They could use their power to make the festival a place where everyone feels safe. The only thing that would indeed be a sellout is if they remain silent on all the obvious issues, take the money and move on. In recent days, Jeff Mills has already proven that he’s still ready to highlight the human rights issues in Saudi Arabia and therefore won’t compromise his voice for whatever money he’s getting paid for that gig.
