American rapper and singer Doja Cat was corrected by some Filipinos after explaining the title of one of her singles in her upcoming album which references a street food in the Philippines.
The singer on Saturday, September 16 said that she named her fourth single from her “Scarlet” album as “Balut” because “it signifies a bird being eaten alive.”
“It’s a metaphor for Twitter stans and the death of Twitter toxicity. The beginning of ‘X’ and the end of ‘tweets,'” Doja said in an Instagram Story.
American billionaire Elon Musk rebranded the social network Twitter to X months after acquiring it. He also changed its legal name to X Corp.
The rebrand includes radical changes in its features and appearances, most notably its logo—from the iconic blue bird to that of a stylized black-and-white letter X.
RELATED: ‘Hala, anong nangyari?’: Twitter’s X rebrand got Pinoy personalities talking
The “tweet,” which is a reference to the sound a bird makes, was also rebranded to “posts.”
In terms of “toxicity,” the microblogging platform has long been known as the “ultimate cancellation machine” since users all appear to be part of a big, ongoing conversation where people can easily influence others with their posts.
‘Not an alive bird’
Meanwhile, Doja’s explanation about her new single failed to amuse some Pinoys who corrected her description of the street food.
“Uh, no. Balut is not eaten alive. It’s already boiled,” a user on the X (formerly Twitter) platform said.
“Huh? Balut is a boiled, not an alive bird, lmao,” another online user commented.
“Eaten alive? Who eats balut alive? Girl, you don’t need to shame my culture if you don’t understand it,” wrote a different Pinoy.
The “balut” is a duck egg incubated for about 18 days.
Its name was derived from the traditional way it was prepared—”balut,” which means “wrapped” or covered inside bags during its incubation process.
An ideal “balut” is incubated for 17 to 18 days while its embryo is still wrapped with a whitish covering and has not yet fully developed.
The snack undergoes incubation via an incubator and is then boiled with salt before it becomes ready for consumption.
The “balut” is also known as “hot vit lon” in Vietnam.
Doja eats ‘balut’
The American singer said in an Instagram Live that she recently tried the popular Asian delicacy, adding that she “loves food” and wants to “eat everything.”
“Balut was good, it reminded me of liver… I can taste the vitamins in it,” she said.
“It’s a fertilized duck egg. I didn’t see the duck inside, necessarily. It looked a little bit like it… moved around a little bit, I don’t know. It wasn’t as whimsical as I thought it would be, like, the full… there’s feathers and it’s like, you know, you’re eating it straight up. It wasn’t like that at all,” Doja continued.
The artist said that she “ate all of it,” adding that she seasoned it with vinegar. She also said that the “juice”—also known as the broth—was her “favorite part.”
Doja Cat reveals on Instagram Live that she tried balut for the first time. pic.twitter.com/JkvsCQ7Muo
— Buzzing Pop (@BuzzingPop) September 18, 2023
Doja’s “Balut” song is the fifteenth and last song on her album’s tracklist.
The mysterious-sounding track features the artist singing about how she, as an artist, stands out over amateurs. She also dismisses rumors of drug use.
Doja is best known for her hits “Say So,” “Kiss Me More” featuring SZA, “Need to Know,” “Juicy” with Tyga, “You Right” with The Weeknd, “Streets,” “Like That” featuring Gucci Mane, “Boss Bitch” and “Woman.”
