Waka Flocka Flame fan chooses concert over marriage, divorces her husband
theGRIO REPORT - Music can influence many things -- but in the case of 53-year-old Dianne D. from South Florida, it ended her three-year marriage...
Music can influence many things — but in the case of 53-year-old Dianne D. from South Florida, it ended her three-year marriage.
Dianne, who has asked for her last name to remain unpublished, is a social media advisor who recently discovered her love for hip-hop music after she became acquainted with rapper Waka Flocka Flame through Twitter.
After building an appreciation for Waka’s interaction with his followers on the social media site, Dianne managed to get a few retweets and a follow from the rapper. Soon, she became one of his biggest supporters – but her husband was not a fan.
‘No way I could have missed that concert’
However, it was not until Dianne heard that Waka was holding a concert in a nearby city that her husband admitted that he did not support her decision to attend or her appreciation for rap – which ultimately led to the couple’s divorce.
“There was no way I could have missed that concert, I had to go,” Diane told theGrio in a phone interview Tuesday morning. “It was a defining moment in our marriage. I had been giving more than I was taking and this was one thing I did not want to compromise on. I just wanted to go to a rap concert.”
Dianne retold this story in a post she published on her blog Deep Commotion – which includes various rap reviews and features on young, up-and-coming artists in the genre.
In the post, Dianne admitted that her exchange with Waka via Twitter “changed her life” and she went into detail about how attending the concert put “a nail in the coffin” of her previous marriage.
She wrote:
“My ex NEVER liked rap, my interest in rap & rap artists, or my blogging about rap. When I knew Waka was coming to Ft. Lauderdale, my husband basically said he wouldn’t prevent me from going (as if) but he didn’t want me to go. When I didn’t immediately agree not to go, things got worse. He basically implied that (and I’m paraphrasing) “many black men would be putting their bodies in close proximity to mine.” Also, “since I was so enamored of Waka, if Waka asked, I might go out clubbing with him and end up doing something I’d regret.”
Dianne said that she invited her husband to attend the concert with her, but he refused to go.
‘A little touch of racism’
“He had a little touch of racism there and tried to dissuade me from going by saying it would be all African-Americans and that it would only be African-American men hitting on me,” she said.
Still, his resistance didn’t stop her from attending and Dianne said she even paid extra money for a T-shirt and the opportunity to meet the rapper backstage for a quick photo.
“I was so thrilled! It really made my night, my week, my year, my decade,” she wrote in her post.
Aside from her love for Waka, Dianne said she has always been a music lover and also enjoys songs from artists including 50 cent, Flo Rida and Pit Bull, among others.
An appreciation of punk rap
“I liked NWA when they first came out,” Dianne said. “I’ve seen the birth and growth of rap.”
She also admitted that she had not listened to Waka’s music before discovering him on Twitter – but has since become a big fan of his songs and likes that he classifies himself as a “punk rapper.”
“I agree with his assessment of himself,” she said. “He calls himself a punk rapper and I see those elements of punk rap in his music.”
Dianne said she’s a fan of the rapper’s lyrics and songs because she enjoys dancing along to the lively beats.
She added that Waka is aware of her on Twitter and that he once wrote a tweet where he encouraged fans to follow her account. This landed her a few follows from other big hip-hop names like Soulja Boy, Lil B, Yung Joc and Vanilla Ice.
Leading separate lives
When asked if attending the concert was worth filing for divorce, Dianne answered: “100 percent.”
“[The divorce] has all been very civilized, but we’re leading separate lives. God bless him,” she adds.
While Dianne said she has no interest in rekindling her relationship with her ex-husband, she does have a growing appreciation for Waka and many of his qualities.
“He was the first big rap artist to follow me!” Dianne said. “He’s all about his fans on Twitter and I think that’s awesome – and he seems to be very family oriented and he supports PETA and fundraising campaigns that support anti-bullying in schools. How can you not love that?”
Follow Lilly Workneh @Lilly_Works
