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LONDON -- MTV Arabia execs have unveiled the full lineup of their starry Nov. 15 launch party to be held in Dubai. U.S. rapper Ludacris and Senegalese-born R&B singer Akon will be on hand to perform in front of an invited audience. Also joining them will be Canadian-Lebanese singer Karl Wolf.

The event, which will be televised Nov. 17 as part of MTV Arabia's launch programming line-up, also will feature a performance by Qusai Khidr, who also goes by the name Don Legend, of Saudi rap group the Jeddah Legends. Khidr is co-presenter of "Hip HopNa" alongside Palestinian-American producer Fred Wreck. The show is MTV Arabia's flagship skein, and sees the two presenters traveling around the Arab world in search of the brightest new local rap stars.

MTV Arabia is making Arabic hip-hop a key focus as it attempts to attract the youth demographic across the region, where two-thirds of the 200 million population are under the age of 30. "We're going to take the underground to the overground," says MTV Arabia topper Patrick Samaha.