Scene builders

Big Hass

حسن أحمد الدناوي · Broadcaster · Documentarian · Journalist · Jeddah · since 2011

Foundation

Bio

A hip-hop broadcaster and documentarian from Jeddah. He hosted Laish Hip-Hop on Mix FM from 2011 — the first hip-hop radio show on Saudi FM — and built the Re-Volt platform around it. His work was not music: introducing the culture, opening a microphone to artists who had no platform, and recording a whole period that would otherwise have been lost. In that sense he is foundational: much of what we know about the Saudi scene passed through him.

What they built

Laish Hip-Hop2011[1][2]

The first hip-hop show on Saudi FM. It opened a door for local artists who had no platform at all.

Re-Volt2011[4]

A blog and platform whose archive is now a primary source for a period with almost no other documentation.

Sourced facts

The showConfirmed[1][2][3]

Laish Hip-Hop on Mix FM Jeddah, launched in 2011 — the first hip-hop show on Saudi FM radio

What the show didLikely[2][3]

Arabic and English rap, artist interviews, and hip-hop presented as a culture rather than only a genre

PlatformLikely[1][4]

Re-Volt — a blog and coverage platform whose archive from 2011 is still online

Sources

[1]‘My job is to support local talent’, says Big Hass, the host of Saudi Arabia’s first FM hip-hop programme — The NationalPublishedAccessed 2026-09-20

[2]How Big Hass sold hip hop to Saudi Arabia — WamdaPublishedAccessed 2026-09-20

[3]Meet Big Hass, the Saudi hip-hop guru who is turning the tables — Al Arabiya EnglishPublishedAccessed 2026-09-20

[4]أرشيف مدونة Re-Volt — تغطية المشهد من 2011 — Re-Volt RadioArchiveAccessed 2026-09-20