Despite the positive reviews of Savage x Fenty Vo2, the show is now under critique for its disrespectful use of the Hadith.
Rihanna took to Instagram to apologise for the use of a song that included the Hadith. The Hadith is a record of words, traditions and sayings spoken by the Prophet Muhammad and alongside the Quran, it can be a source of moral and religious guidance (however not all Muslims believe it is legitimate religious text). Many spectators realised that one of the performance songs “Doom” by Coucou Chloe sampled the Hadith and took to Twitter to express their displeasure at the disrespectful use of the religious sample. They brought light onto issues of Islamophobia and cultural appropriation as prevalent issues for many young issues.
i can’t let Rihanna have a pass w appropriating Islam like for her first show the models wore a scarf around their heads and it looked like HIJAB and her second show she used a track that remixed a HADITH….why is no one talking about this, my religion is not y’all’s aesthetic
— . (@reversecocunut) October 4, 2020
Despite the overall positive reception of the show for its inclusivity and diversity, fans were still disappointed with the show for the cultural insensitivity. Both Rihanna and Cuocuo Chloe have since then released an apology on Instagram and Twitter respectively, acknowledging their careless mistake and explaining they did not intentionally seek to hurt anyone. Coucou Chloe has also shared that she would be removing “Doom” from all streaming platforms.
I want to deeply apologize for the offence caused by the vocal samples used in my song ‘DOOM'. The song was created using samples from Baile Funk tracks I found online. At the time, I was not aware that these samples used text from an Islamic Hadith. 1/2
— COUCOU CHLOE (@coucou_chloe) October 5, 2020
Unfortunately, this is not the star’s first time to get called out for cultural appropriation as the recent event has reminded fans of her Hijab controversy in Savage x Fenty’s first show. However, Fenty is also one of the few companies to include hijabi women in their product line so hopefully the company will gain more cultural awareness in order to truly embody the idea of inclusivity.
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