(The Root) — Quickly, close your eyes and picture your average Waka Flocka Flame fan. You're probably thinking: white, female, over the age of 50. Right? No? You're kidding!
She may not be the average Waka Flocka fan, but she's definitely one of the biggest. In addition to loving his music, the blogger and social media strategist, known only as Debbie D., credits the rapper with ending her marriage and saving her life in one fell swoop. "Let me explain," she writes in her entry about it all. Yes. Yes, please do.
The short version of the story: Debbie's study of how musicians use Twitter as a promotional tool leads her to the discovery of rappers like Waka Flocka and, as she refers to them, the "Brick Squad Monopoly group of talented artists." Debbie and Waka exchange a couple of tweets. Debbie decides to go see Waka in concert, her husband is against it, they get divorced and now Debbie is a happy woman doing as she darn well pleases.
My initial reaction was crippling laughter. Who on earth would think that there is any salvation to be found in a grown man whose name sounds like a Muppet laughing? And of all people — a 50-something white woman? If this was about your cousin Junebug's life being changed by Waka Flocka, I'd have far fewer questions. On the surface, this whole story seems ridiculous and far-fetched and just plain odd.
But the meat of the story, I think, lies beneath a couple of layers. What you have here is a husband who, for all intents and purposes, seems to be a pretty sucky, probably racist guy. (One of his reasons for not wanting Debbie to go to the concert was that "Many black men would be putting their bodies in extreme proximity to [hers]," and he was worried that she'd go clubbing with Waka and become his hip-hop concubine after the show.) Further, this is a man who got upset when his wife disobeyed his passive-aggressive orders not to do something he didn't like ("He said he wouldn't prevent me from going … but he didn't want me to go").
Now, it could be that that she happened to find Waka at a time when she had one foot out the door anyway. Regardless, whatever it is that gave her the wind to lace up that final shoe and hit the door deserves plenty of praise.
With this, Waka's success record as an accidental relationship counselor now officially eclipses that of your favorite Twitter relationship expert. Go 'head and shake your dreads, Debbie D.!
Read more at Deep Commotion.
Tracy Clayton is a writer, humorist and blogger from Louisville, Ky.