Sam Smith and Lloyiso were trending throughout Wednesday afternoon and well into the evening after Lloyiso took umbrage to a fan comparing him to Sam Smith when responding to a tweet of his from Tuesday.
It all started when the fan tweeted: “@Lloyiso_rsa is like the African Sam Smith.”
After seemingly interpreting the comparison as a slight, the 24-year-old South African singer responded: “I’m gonna block you 😕”.
@Lloyiso_rsa is like the African Sam smith
— K.O.H.N (@kohnthechairman) May 16, 2023
The tweep tried to clarify that he meant it as a compliment.
Another user responded with a screenshot of a tweet from 2019 in which Lloyiso had said: “I wanna be like Sam Smith.”
As the screenshot started to become widely shared, Lloyiso clarified what he had meant by that: “Like and a version of are 2 different things, it’s an inferiority complex to say ‘African version’ of any artist .
“I’m a big fan of Sam smith and ‘like’ him I want to be great! This mentality needs to stop.”
Like and a version of are 2 different things, it’s an inferiority complex to say “African version” of any artist . I’m a big fan of Sam smith and “like” him I want to be great! This mentality needs to stop.
— Lloyiso (@Lloyiso_rsa) May 17, 2023
Other fans then began to chime in as some said he was overreacting while others viewed the original post as a backhanded compliment.
One fan shared: “There's no way ya'll are angry that an artist wants to have their own identity. i.e who would wanna be known as the Black Celine Dion?”
Earlier in the week, Lloyiso received yet another international co-sign when the globally recognised R&B superstar Chris Brown posted his impressive single “Run”, which is off his recently released debut EP, “Seasons”, on his Instagram Stories.
It’s been almost two months since Lloyiso released “Seasons”.
The globally marketed project was released through a deal with Universal Music-affiliated American record label, Republic Records, which is home to the likes of Drake, Nicki Minaj, The Weeknd and Taylor Swift.
Lloyiso is the first and only South African artist signed to the label.