Cassper Nyovest has jumped to the defence of his artist, Nadia Nakai, after she was dragged for wearing an extremely revealing outfit to her recent #CastleLiteUnlocks performance.
It wasn't just the outfit that got a lot of backlash - it was the extremely sexual nature of Nadia's performance that didn't sit well with people. Nadia, like many other rappers including Meek Mill, Cassper himself and AKA, took to the #CastleLiteUnlocks stage on Monday evening where she performed an energetic 25-minute set.
One of the moments that got people talking the most came when she turned around, got down, and hit us with a full 10 seconds of bootylicious twerking:
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While most fans appreciated her twerk moves, many others criticised her for using her sexuality to stay relevant, instead of using her musical abilities. Several others just felt as if the outfit she was wearing just wasn't it:
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The backlash continued and continued for hours after the concert and although she herself didn't address it explicitly, one member of her stable did. Family Tree boss, Cassper Nyovest, took to social media to defend his artist when he defended her right to dress however she liked. Cassper wrote:
"Why is it that Ya'll always on Nadia's Case about how she dresses? Who are you to tell a woman how to dress? It's her body!!!! Let the poor girl enjoy her body!!!! This has to stop."
On the one hand, Cassper made a valid point; what Nadia chooses to wear and do with her body should be her choice and hers alone. On the other hand, however, many people made a point of noting that the criticism wasn't so much about her body/outfit but that she used that to compensate for a lack of substance in her music.
A number of fans however also took to the timeline to defend Nadia, with many declaring that they genuinely like how she dresses:
"I think that my sound has matured in the sense that I am embracing my African roots. This album will touch on my Zimbabwean heritage. Although I don't speak Shona very well, I sing in Shona on one of the choruses. I want to show that side of me, but I also know that people may think they are experts and say things about it."
