DaBaby’s 2021 Grammys performance drew plenty of attention for its choir of robe-clad senior citizens backing him up as he rapped his hit song “Rockstar,” but it could have gotten even weirder. According to DaBaby himself, his attempt to bring down the average age of his collaborators in the performance was nixed due to the unavailability of JoJo Siwa, who he asked to perform with him after clearing up a misunderstanding with the 17-year-old singer’s fans.
Consider the beef between @itsjojosiwa and @DaBabyDaBaby squashed!
#GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/NjMuPXXvdB
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) March 14, 2021
Apparently, Siwa was already booked for the evening, filming a mysterious project that DaBaby was reluctant to reveal details of in his red carpet interview. However, he was also gracious in again explaining that he didn’t mean to disrespect the singer with his wordplay in the “Beat Box” freestyle mentioning her.
DaBaby’s performance still became one of the most buzzed-about moments of the ceremony, as he was joined by “Rockstar” guest star Roddy Ricch, fellow Charlotte native Anthony Hamilton, and the aforementioned choir, dubbed Da Baby Boomers by host Trevor Noah, in what appeared to be a thinly-veiled appeal to the justice system to make some big changes in the interest of racial equity.
And although DaBaby didn’t get to perform with Siwa, he did get to have a “popstar” moment, supporting Dua Lipa’s disco-inflected performance later in the show.