US rapper Meek Mill mercilessly dragged online for wondering how Africans listen to music

On Saturday, January 20, Meek took to X to try and gauge his popularity in Africa, wondering how people in South Africa and Nigeria 'listened to music'.

"Do a lot of people play my music in South Africa I remember having on big show their [sic] few years back … how do yall listen to our music in South Africa???? On what platform or in Nigeria?” he asked.

A lot of people who stumbled onto the question interpreted it as Meek Mill outrightly - and very daftly - questioning Africa's technological advances.

Unfortunately for him, he mentioned two of Africa's most ferocious countries on X - South Africa and Nigeria, and also, two countries that normally don't see eye-to-eye on any topic online.

Expectedly, the responses were swift and brutal. 

“Well, it depends on the season. In summer we hear it through the trunk of an elephant. In spring the giraffes catch signal and play it out loud. You get me?” wrote one X user. 

“Normally we use rocks but on a good day we use trees or we get one person to sing for the whole village,” wrote another.

Whilst the conversation started off with embittered people calling out the rapper and dragging him back to his place, the answers soon started taking a more comical approach as people decided to be creative with their answers, turning the entire fiasco into an entertainment minefield.

"Oh, you want to know how Africans listen to American music? Well, on a good day, we climb the mountain to listen to the forest play your music. On days when it’s rainy, we go down the nearest river and a mermaid comes out to sing your songs. We have only one computer here in my village, so it was my turn to tweet. [praying hands emoji] will hear from me next year,” read a hilarious reply.

"When we want to listen to y’all music, we gather around in circles while beating the drums and shakers then a monkey will hum the tune of your music and then we dance!" another funny user commented.

Another Nigerian added: “We don’t have any music streaming services in Nigeria. We have this very black guy who’s the only one who has access to Spotify; he’s a town crier who comes every Friday to perform your songs for us. This is how we listen to your music. I hope this helps.”

Whilst the conversation went on, many hailed (depending on how you looked at it) the 'Amen' rapper for having the rare ability to unite South Africans and Nigerians online.

"Wow! Congratulations! You've finally made South Africans and Nigerians speak the same language! A rare achievement, Mrs. Nicki Minaj!" one fan wrote.

Even CNN journalist Larry  Madowo jumped into the fray, saying, "Clueless American rapper unites 2 musical powerhouses (South Africa and Nigeria) in 1 ignorant tweet!"

More than a day after Meek's tweet did insane rounds across the internet, the Philadelphia-born rapper hopped back online to try and clarify the issue, saying that his original tweet was meant to help improve his business acumen and pocket the coins made from African streaming.

"I was asking how they listen to music in Africa because I wanna handle my business none of my contracts say they have rights to distribute me in Africa … basically looking for the money trail? Idk what platforms used in South Africa lol" he wrote.

Still not helping matters, more and more people railed at him, calling him dumb and even suggesting that his reasoning is the basis of his 'washed-up' rapper status.

"What gets me is that Google is free! Nowadays you don’t even have to Google, you can just go to TikTok and you can find a video for anything... uyanya my nigga-ndini... No wonder your mates are still flying high and hogging the charts whilst you remain a has-been, washed up silly rapper!" one fan wrote.