
Musical artist Wale speaks during a discussion on higher education in the East Room of the White House July 23, 2015 in Washington, DC. The first lady hosted the 2015 Beating the Odds Summit to recognize youths who have overcome substantial obstacles to persist through high school and make it to college, as part of the ‘Reach Higher’ initiative. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Wale put up a recent Instagram post that has caused a social media backlash. The reason? People misinterpreted his actions because they failed to recognize his Nigerian heritage.
Wale and girlfriend Chloe Alexis were throwing their daughter Zyla Moon’s first birthday when he posted a video clip of the little girl having money showered on her. This is a cultural thing that is done to symbolize good fortune.
The captioning on the video said they were celebrating the Nigerian way, but the significance of that seems to have been missed by many.
— Wale shuts down Tomi Lahren, Twitter rejoices —
Social media had a field day with the video. One user posted, “It’s like they’re getting her ready for her future career, just need the stripper pole.” Another said, “What do you think about the negative message that the girls will learn at an early age … shit, one little girl already knew what to do with the money, making it rain and picking it up.”
Wale took the opportunity to share a little knowledge with these people. He told them this was a custom in Nigeria.
Even Zyla’s aunt got into the mix when one user said, “Have some class … showering her with dirty bills ain’t a good look if you know what I mean.”
Her aunt replied, “Zyla moon is my niece, she’s a very special, intelligent, charismatic, and sweet one-year-old … her mother would never let her be subject to anything harmful or degrading in any way,” she stated, while one again adding that it’s a cultural tradition.
And here we have one of the ugliest attempts at capitalizing on the Caribbean craze: pic.twitter.com/U4ZtKtUkFy
— thee anthony fantano (@theneedledrop) May 3, 2017
Wow man .. ugly attempt at Caribbean ? Man that’s Afro beat that’s my naija culture . I was born into this sound . This is OUR sound
— Wale (@Wale) May 3, 2017
I’m offended but I can’t stop laughing tho . Like my stomach hurts right now . This Nigga knows nothin about US https://t.co/pT5OooMF8P
— Wale (@Wale) May 3, 2017
A 100 pct African … what African music should sound like .. how is this possible in 2017 https://t.co/ujlsWZyNvK
— Wale (@Wale) May 3, 2017
Oluwakemi is Nigerian and we sprayed her on her birthday ..some of y’all poppin off in the comments realize the world is bigger than ur home pic.twitter.com/JJagTGQWRr
— Wale (@Wale) July 25, 2017