Immortalized in the 2015 song "Lean and Dab" by iHeartMemphis, dabbing has become one of the most well-recognized symbols of hip-hop dance culture. From professional athletes to rap royalty, celebrities even got in on the act and some of them are still dabbing to this day. However, while North American culture might tolerate this kind of dance move, in other parts of the world, it's a very different story.
Enter the story of Abdallah Al Shahani, a Saudi man who was performing at a music festival in Taif, Saudi Arabia and found himself getting arrested after dabbing during his time on stage. As reported by the BBC, dabbing is banned throughout the country because the authorities believe it explicitly references drug use. Al Shahani was arrested after a video clip of him dabbing was posted to social media and subsequently went viral.
The Interior Ministry’s National Commission for Combatting Drug Use issued a warning to all social media users about the contents of the video, citing the "dangers" that dabbing inflicts "on the youth and society" in a promotional poster for their organizaiton. After his arrest, Abdallah Al Shahani supposedly apologized for his actions, saying that his actions were unplanned and without any malicious intent. Only time will tell if his punishment for not respecting the ban will be a serious one.
Check out the promotional poster in question below.
