Rabat – Moroccan American rapper French Montana showed off his Arab roots by wearing a throbe, a traditional outfit worn by men in the Gulf, to the Met Gala in New York on May 6.
The Rabat born rapper’s soft pink throbe, which he paired with a metallic printed agal (the cord that ties a keffiyeh in place), was designed by famed designer Dapper Dan as part of his recent Gucci collection.
The rapper told fashion site Just Jared that he had the outfit designed to honor the first night of Ramadan. In an Instagram post featuring the rapper in his Met Gala outfit, he wished his 11 million followers a happy Ramadan. The star also referred to himself as “Sheikh Montana.”
However, social media users were quick to comment that French Montana may have failed to grasp the theme of the night. This year’s Met Gala theme, an annual fundraising event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” inspired by Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay “Notes on Camp.” Sontag describes camp as “love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.”
Light-hearted memes quickly lit up social media, gently pointing out that French Montana may have looked out of place at the gala. One Twitter user joked that the rapper would be “leading the taraweeh prayer at #MetGala.”
French Montana in the house ?? he’ll be leading the taraweeh prayer at the #metGala pic.twitter.com/166E9aLXUA
— Sumeyya (@smylvl) May 7, 2019
The taraweeh jokes continued, referring to the extra evening prayer during Ramadan.
When you have the MET gala at 7 but Iftar at 8 ? #FrenchMontana #METgala #keepingithalaal pic.twitter.com/PZHsG3zzcQ
— Fatma Sultan (@fatmabintsultan) May 7, 2019
However, many praised French Montana for using his large platform to represent his culture.
French Montana doing it for the Muslim folks on the first day of Ramadan. Mashallah brother #MetGala pic.twitter.com/vdF2ItND8h
— K ? (@OnlyVocalists) May 6, 2019
