Former Outlawz member turns barista

Mathaq Al-Kaif Coffee Shop

The Mathaq Al-Kaif Coffee Shop, one of Riyadh’s newest java huts, is run by somebody who used to be called Napoleon.

The Saudi Arabian café is owned by Mutah Beale, who was part of a hip-hop group that was associated with Tupac Shakur. Back then he took on the pseudonym of the French military leader and appeared on Tupac’s final two albums, including the critically acclaimed All Eyez on Me. However, he left the Outlawz after his conversion to Islam, citing that the music genre and religion were incompatible.

Post-hip-hop days, Beale has been involved in a number of projects, speaking to The National, he reels his ventures off one by one: “I have been involved in quite a few,” he begins. “Real estate, a barbershop business, a clothing line and [a] retail store.”

Like so many, there has also been a long, underlying love for all things coffee that has eventually seen him open up a café in the Saudi capital. The decision to do so wasn’t undertaken on whim: “I started to study the coffee industry from a grass roots level,” he explains, noting that by and large, they offer a great return for proprietors and investors. So alongside a Canadian friend, he decided to team up with some Saudi contacts to jump into the coffee market, opening up the Mathaq Al-Kaif shop.

He is, however, aware that it’s a congested industry to leap into. The ‘third space’ concept is being utilised to the maximum as the coffee shop not only offers a slice of American cuisine, unavailable elsewhere in the city, but also plays host to “an English book club and [an] English tutoring program,” as well as sport events, screening high profile football games.

The New Jersey native isn’t the first musician to make the leap into the world of coffee. James Murphy, formerly of LCD Soundsystem, has teamed up with the hip chain Blue Bottle; Rohan Marley has a personalised brand of coffee, as has Joey Kramer of Aerosmith fame.

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