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Floral Cape, STYLIST’S OWN that page Floral Headpiece, STYLIST’S OWN 14 2GRAZIAMA GAZINE. COM GME_011_142-161_Amy Roko_13394121.indd 14202/10/2024 20:50The comedian, rapper, and cultural icon is helping de ne Saudi’s newly ampli ed entertainment industry – one happy accident and calculated career move at a time. Let her entertain you… GME_011_142-161_Amy Roko_13394121.indd 14301/10/2024 21:35A decade ago, Jeddah-born, Riyadh-raised Amy Roko was a pre-med student who alleviated the ‘heaviness’ and emotional turmoil of hospital visits by creating brief comedy skits on the now-defunct app Vine, to amuse her friends. A decade ago, that was about as much as Saudi artists could really do. Th e Kingdom’s entertainment industry – which wasn’t even really an industry back then – was almost exclusively online, save for a handful of mainstream Khaleeji pop stars who had record labels behind them. Musicians hardly ever got to play live except at private parties, comedians had nowhere to perform, and fi lmmakers distributed their work on YouTube. Th ere was no infrastructure to support creatives, nowhere for them to easily meet and exchange ideas, and no real prospect of making a career from their talents. So, Amy was studying to become a doctor. “I think the way I would describe myself then compared to now is, like, two diff erent people,” Amy explains. Which makes sense, since the comedian is now living in what is, when it comes to being an artist, essentially a diff erent country. In late 2017, the Saudi authorities began a series of sweeping social changes that have transformed the Kingdom. Cinemas opened for the fi rst time in almost 40 years, live events began springing up nationwide, and – most signifi cantly of all for the creative scene – the government began to actively seek out and promote local talent, with both fi nancial and practical support. By this point, Amy’s passion project had already built her a considerable following online, across all social-media platforms. Of course, the more popular she became, the more attention – both positive and negative – she attracted. “As a woman, your ability to express yourself to people comes with these restrictions: ‘No, you’re not allowed to be fully yourself.’ It’s like you’re not allowed to be super-loud – it’s more accepted if you’re timid and gentle and soft. People love that. But when you do something as loud as comedy and music? It’s not loved.” Much of the attention focused, and still does, on her decision to wear the niqab. As much as people may want that to be a statement, she insists it isn’t. It’s simply a personal choice she made without pressure from anyone else. “I saw my mom wearing it, and I was, like, ‘Yo, I’ll wear it too.’ Th at’s how it started,” she recalls. “If I could coin a term for myself, it’s ‘I’m there. I’m not what I wear’. I’m, like, ‘Do you see me? Do you see my character?’” Equally, though, as much as Amy may want her niqab not to be a statement, it’s kind of a statement. Here is a fi ercely independent, talented, outspoken young Saudi woman choosing to wear an item of clothing that for so long – at least in the West – has been synonymous with patriarchal power and the subjugation of women. Th at can be confusing for liberals, just as the sight of a young woman in the niqab performing comedy or music can be confusing for the more conservative elements of Saudi society. But Amy has made peace with it all. “Because I don’t view myself wearing it, when I’m with my friends, I don’t think of myself as ‘the niqabi one’. I’m just… I’m just the coolest girl in the room, baby,” she laughs. “Th at’s how I see myself.” Th at laid-back attitude pervades Amy’s conversation about her career, much of which, as she tells it, has been a happy accident. “I forgot the fact that people watched my videos,” she admits. “I was just in it. CREATIVE DIRECTION DANÉ STOJANOVIC PHOTOGRAPHY VLADIMIR MARTÍ FASHION EDITOR LAURA JANE BROWN FASHION ASSISTANT BRYAN LIU MAKEUP MANU LOSADA GOMEZ SENIOR PRODUCER STEFF HAWKER PRODUCTION COORDINATOR CHLOE CHRISTODOULOU PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT MARK ANTHONY NAVARRO TALENT AMY ROKO INTERVIEW BY OLIVIA MORRIS WORDS HAMDA SALEH 144GRAZIAMA GAZINE. COM GME_011_142-161_Amy Roko_13394121.indd 14401/10/2024 21:35Leather Hourglass Coat in Black, MAGDA BUTRYM. Black Hijab, AMY’S OWN GME_011_142-161_Amy Roko_13394121.indd 14501/10/2024 21:35GME_011_142-161_Amy Roko_13394121.indd 14601/10/2024 21:35Doing it out of passion. I would fi lm something and then send it to my friends. And once I got a couple of laughs, I was like, ‘Job done! Th is is amazing!’ I didn’t realise I was getting 100,000 views.” While comedy remains the main focus of her content, Amy has also allowed her love of music to seep in. “I’ve always known music wasn’t really considered a ‘good’ thing in my culture,” she concedes. “But I was always interested in yodelling and opera and all of this classical music.” So, she started making videos where she would take a popular song – something by Adele, for instance – and put Arabic lyrics to it, or ‘sing’ in an exaggerated Arabic accent, “just trying to make it as funny as I could”. Soon, people were requesting uploads of new songs. Th en brands started to take an interest. “Some companies were checking out my videos, and they asked me to do an ad for them. And I was like, ‘Oh, no, I just do this silly thing’. And they said, ‘No, no. We want you to do it for real. Come do the silly thing’. And then I started getting paid for it, she shares, incredulously. “And now I work as a creative director for a record label,” she adds, referring to the Riyadh-based Insomnia Records. Th at’s really the least of what Amy does in Saudi’s entertainment scene. Her unfettered creativity means she can lay claim to a number of roles: rapper, infl uencer, comedian, actress, and more. Her position at Insomnia, though, means she’s become immersed in the Kingdom’s music scene. And she’s excited about it, particularly with the support from the Ministry of Culture, and especially the Music Commission, prioritising the growth of the industry within the Kingdom and on a global scale. “It’s growing so fast! You know, there are a lot of artists doing Arabic pop, metal – which was crazy to me,” she acknowledges. “Th ey’re doing Afro – for me, that’s so beautiful to see. It’s just so cool to see all these genres coming out of Saudi. Because of social media, it’s so easy now – you can fi nd your people. You can fi nd all these diff erent kinds of music in Saudi now. You’re never going to be lost. If you like something, you’re going to fi nd it. You guys are used to English metal? Get ready for Arabic metal! Or Arabic pop. People who are singing in diff erent languages. People who are mixing languages. It’s such a beautiful thing to witness and be part of.” She continues, “To be honest, I feel left out. I need to start releasing more music now.” What she most wants to create as a songwriter and rapper, she says, is “funky comedic songs”. “Anything that’s funny,” she muses. “It has a message, but it’s not really a message – you’re kind of poking fun at something. Th at would defi nitely be my thing to do.” American rapper Lil Dicky – best known for 2013’s viral hit ‘Ex- Boyfriend’ – is someone whose approach she would like to emulate with her own music. “He’s very inspiring to me,” Amy admits. “All the music he does has a comedic undertone to it. It could be a heavy message, but he just breaks it down so beautifully so that it’s digestible to people. I love that. I want to have that.” Th e comedy-to-rap road has already proven successful in Saudi Arabia. Last year, popular stand-up Moayad Al-Nefaie released his debut hip-hop album Batn Al Shaer, which combines humour and social commentary to great eff ect. Its popularity with other regional rappers, as well as fans, suggests there’s defi nitely room for Amy to prosper with her plans. Chorio Kilimi Scarf in Red, Chorio Kilimi Scarf in Black, RIANNA + NINA GRAZIAMA GAZINE. COM147 GME_011_142-161_Amy Roko_13394121.indd 14701/10/2024 21:35Next >