Trinidad-born wordsmith Nicki Minaj will perform in Saudi Arabia for the first time with a set at the Jeddah World Fest on Thursday, July 18.

While her image makes some think she's just bubblegum, she's undoubtedly one of the most accomplished rappers of the 21st century. The speed at which she spits rhymes is almost unfathomable. She has performed in the UAE before, and when she stopped by Dubai during her 2016 Pink Print World Tour, she had this to say to the crowd: “I didn’t think Dubai would be this turnt up."

Minaj will be joined at the festival by cake-throwing EDM superstar Steve Aoki, and Liam Payne, of One Direction fame.

Payne was the last of the One Direction band to launch his solo career, and his string of immensely listenable singles last year forced even the most cynical of listeners to reappraise his skills. "I had to get the mental balance right, and once I did that, everything just felt clearer," Payne told us last year, discussing why he took his time before launching his solo career.

Jeddah World Fest will be at the KASC Stadium Jeddah on Thursday, July 18; doors will open at 7.30pm and the first performer will be on stage at 9.30pm (it's an outdoor festival and a standing-room-only event). It's for those 16 and above only.

There will be accessible viewing areas for those with special requirements, including those in wheelchairs. If you need special assistance, first purchase a ticket for yourself and then contact Sharek to arrange for a free ticket for your carer.

Tickets for Jeddah World Fest have yet to go on sale, but will be available from this site when they do.

And that's not all ... Super Junior are coming (and their subgroups will perform, too)

Jeddah Season also announced yesterday that K-pop boy band Super Junior are set to perform in the kingdom, just one of the flurry of summer gigs they are organising.

Tickets for Super Junior's gig will go on sale on July 5. Photo: Getty

The band is made up of 13 members (although there have usually only been nine together at one time due to military service and personal reasons). They are one of the earliest K-pop groups to find success: they were formed in 2005.

Their fan base call themselves 'E.L.F', an acronym that stands for 'ever lasting friends': there are many E.L.Fs in the GCC, particularly in Saudi Arabia, so news of their performance will be well received. A quick search of the hashtag #SuperJuniorinKSA shows just how excited the E.L.Fs are.

Tickets for Super Junior's show will go on sale on July 5, and their performance is on Friday, July 12. When tickets become live, the show will appear on this site.

The day after Super Junior's set, there will be a gig from two more K-pop groups featuring members of the band: Super Junior K.R.Y (a sub-group of Super Junior, featuring its three main vocalists) will perform. Super Junior D&E will also perform; this sub-group has a harder sound and is made up of Super Junior members Donghae and Eunhyuk.