US singer and songwriter Maxwell performed at the 10th DStv Delicious International Food & Music Festival over the Heritage Day long weekend.
One highlight for many of those who saw the Brooklyn born artist perform was his shout out to the audience, which was directed at the Haitians and Latinos in the house.
When asked about how the popular festival went, @THEWESTRANDBOY_ revealed that everything was going well until that awkward shout-out.
💙 @_MAXWELL_ feeling the love. SA is really a great crowd pic.twitter.com/hUNhEolaeG
— Thula Sindi (@thulasindi) September 24, 2023
“Everything was going well until Maxwell said ‘S/O to my Haitians and my Latinos out here’ 😕😕😕”
Now, South Africa is truly a diverse nation but Haitians and Latinos are not commonly found in our country, making attendees wonder who exactly was Maxwell shouting out to?
“Was he talking to the coloured hunnies? Nah, Even the coloured huns were befuddled by the shout out. So who the hell was he shouting out? Someone pls ask him to break it down 😕,” said @THEWESTRANDBOY_
Was he talking to the coloured hunnies? Nah, Even the coloured huns were befuddled by the shout out. So who the hell was he shouting out? Someone pls ask him to break it down 😕
— Mr Kash (@THEWESTRANDBOY_) September 25, 2023
The moment had many X users laughing in confusion as they tried to make sense of the shout-out.
Caribbean?? Haitian? Latino? In South Africa? What was going on? pic.twitter.com/nGXePkBHIE
— TrinMozé (@TrinMoze) September 25, 2023
However, some fans came to Maxwell’s defence, saying that the song he was about to perform ahead of the shout-out hails from the Caribbean/Latin sound and was showing love to those possible in the audience.
But it's because the song he was performing was Caribbean/Latin because that's where the sound is from, just a shout out to them, also incase there are some in the crowd.
— Jimmy Soot 𝕏 (@jimmy_soot_) September 25, 2023
Maxwell ensured to give his Mzansi fans a smooth performance of their favourite hits from his legendary catalogue but left many disappointed when he left out ‘This Woman’s Work’ in his set.
#DStvDeliciousFestival2023
— MARCH_29_😮💨 (@thando_dludlu) September 25, 2023
Why didn’t @_MAXWELL_ sing Woman’s Work😭😭😭.. though!!
Mara fun was had‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/Y8vNy5rHUW
Some festival goers also felt that the Grammy-award winning musician’s performance should have been allocated more time.
Nongcali_rubushe when giving feedback said; “The main feedback on improvement areas is time allocated to the main act - Maxwell should've been allocated more time, and started on time (which was part of the issue, but he still should've been allocated more time).”