DaBaby, the 29-year-old rapper you might recognize from his guest verses on a bunch of popular songs (including Megan Thee Stallion's "Cash Shit" and Dua Lipa's "Levitating"), found himself in hot water this weekend, as many accused him of dissing beloved queer teen icon JoJo Siwa. Yes, you read that right.
On February 19, DaBaby dropped his new Beatbox "Freelstyle" remix, where he name drops the 17-year-old dancer and YouTube star in the hook.
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In the song, DaBaby calls Siwa a "bitch" while holding up a photo of her.
The rapper received heavy backlash for the line, as many accused him of dissing her for no reason. (Honestly, the memes were kind of hilarious, because Siwa hive goes in).
However, DaBaby took to Twitter to respond to the criticism, and tried to explain why the whole thing was a big misunderstanding.
He first tweeted, "😂😂😂😂 I love Twitter bruh," as he and Siwa started trending on the social media platform. DaBaby fans pointed out that he was attempting to use wordplay: "JoJo" as a reference to himself (the North Carolinan's real name is Jonathan Lyndale Kirk) and "Siwa" as way of saying "see why."
He further reinforced his point by responding to a fan who tweeted, "Bae I don’t 'Siwa' they so mad at you."
"I don’t 'Siwa' they so mad either bae," he replied.
😂 I don’t “Siwa” they so mad either bae. https://t.co/OhdJyNi9aK
— DaBaby (@DaBabyDaBaby) February 21, 2021
DaBaby then directly addressed Siwa, explaining that his daughter is a fan and that he had no intention of insulting her.
"@itsjojosiwa my 3 year old princess is your number 1 fan," he tweeted. "I bought her every product you have out. She think she you. 😂. Don't let em trick you into thinking id ever have a problem with you. My word play just went over their heads. All love on my end shawty, Keep shinning!"
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@itsjojosiwa my 3 year old princess is your number 1 fan. I bought her every product you have out. She think she you.😂
— DaBaby (@DaBabyDaBaby) February 21, 2021
Don’t let em trick you into thinking id ever have a problem with you. My word play just went over their heads.
All love on my end shawty, Keep shinning! 💝
Just in case people didn't get the point, he also let out his frustration at the public's reaction on his Instagram Story, writing "Y'all MFs sick lol. Y'all ok w/ that child being tricked into thinking I got a problem with her, WE F--- WIT YOU JOJO."
The singer hasn't yet addressed the dust up, but did like a tweet on February 21 that that added "boss" to the "bitch" lyric. Siwa, having just publicly come out as queer to the world and announced a new Nickelodeon show, was likely too busy preparing for the launch or basking in her new relationship to pay much attention.
Though it's good to know that there's no ill will between DaBaby and Siwa, fans were likely a bit disappointed that they didn't get the chance to Siwa a head-to-head matchup between the two would've looked looked like.
Refinery29 reached out to Siwa for comment.