If you got a snowflake emoji out of the blue recently, you can blame Quavo.
The Migos rapper hopped on a meme that had been trending on social media the last couple weeks, in which users posted photos comparing the first time their significant others’ shot their respective shots alongside current photos of themselves.
On Wednesday night, Quavo shared his contribution, revealing how he and girlfriend and fellow rapper Saweetie kicked things off. Turns out, it was a good old-fashioned DM slide.
Quavo’s screenshots show him making the first move, hitting up Saweetie’s Instagram in March 2018 with a simple snowflake emoji, an apparent reference to Saweetie’s viral single, “ICY GRL” which the LA-based artist released the year prior.
Naturally, Saweetie responded with an emoji depicting a bowl of noodles—an apparent reference to the Migos’ hit “Stir-fry.”
Seeing his opening, Quavo replied, “u so icy Ima glacier boy.”
“Was hannin then,” said Saweetie.
To be fair, Quavo and Saweetie did mention this exchange earlier this year—in a joint interview with GQ magazine. Quava said he stumbled upon Saweetie’s Instagram account via his “Explore” page.
“I was like, ‘Damn! Who is this?’” Quavo told the magazine. “So I did my research and I DM her. I was like, ‘How she going to call herself icy and she don’t talk to me?’”
Still, there’s something about seeing the messages in screenshot form, an exchange was short, cute and undoubtedly confounding for many. Could this simple, subtle, nonverbal approach—which clearly worked for Quavo, the Beyoncé of the Migos—work for the average thirsty citizen? The people wanted to know. So, the people sent snowflake emojis.
MTV sent one to Lil Nas X, who asked who the hell was running MTV’s Instagram account.
Comedian Zack Fox sent one to Viola Davis, and didn’t quite know how to follow-up when she responded.
And they were far from alone. Responses to Quavo’s tweet show many an internet user tried their hand at terrorizing their crushes, friends, and loved ones with snowflake emojis.
If anything, the exchange—and the “how we started” memes in general—showcase one fundamental truth about dating: different strokes for different folks. Quavo’s approach was derided as corny by some folks, but slight corniness in the DMs probably won’t turn off someone who already thinks you’re cute. None other than Saweetie herself made that clear.
“Straight to the point I been wanting this man,” the “Tap In” rapper wrote when quote-tweeting her boo.
Congrats to the happy couple, who are going two years strong into their relationship. As for everyone else, please use the snowflakes sparingly.