Busta Rhymes wanted to have a party at his recent Essence Festival appearance, but the crowd wasn't really feeling it. The rapper ended up having a melt down after he felt that the crowd wasn't appropriately pumped up enough.
While it wasn't John Mellencamp levels of bad, Busta Rhymes did end up cussing out several fans after he saw them on their phones. He ordered them to stop what they're doing.
"F—k them camera phones. Let's get back to interacting like humans. Put them weird a— devices down. I ain't from that era. Them s—ts don't control us all. F—k your phone," the rapper said, per one fan's video, which was shared online.
He also wanted everyone up out of their seats and on their feet. It's probably not easy to be a performer, but it's hard to argue he went the right way about it.
"I'm gon' point every last one of y'all out until y'all a—es is up," he said. "33 years of this s—t. I ain't used to n—as sitting down at my show. I don't give a f—k. All age groups, get your a— up, now." "F—k goin' on?" he also called to the people at the top of the stadium. "Get y'all big head a—es up."
NOT BUSTA DONE CURSED THE EMPTY AUDIENCE OUT #ESSENCEfest30 #ESSENCEFest #NewOrleans #NOLA pic.twitter.com/cVAUIWPY1s
— DaBlogger_504 (@LucyTakesOnNOLA) July 6, 2024
Busta Rhymes Is Angry
He also explained, "This is my first time in New Orleans at the f—king 30 year anniversary of the Essence Festival. Make me feel like we home." However, Busta Rhymes' outburst drew attention to the empty seats in the crowd. As one social media pointed out, there was a big storm going on and many people hadn't made it yet.
"For context, there was d—n near a hurricane outside of the stadium. That is why there were only like 400 people in there," he said. "Also, don't judge a short clip, it was light-hearted, and he put on an amazing set. My section had a ball."
Meanwhile, others pondered on the lack of energy from the crowd. One wrote, "Missy Elliot was down bad at the Essence a few years ago. I thought it was the crowd, but Ms. Badu hit the stage, and IT WENT DOWN. It's the artist, not the audience."
Another wrote, "The energy from the audience been low for Busta every since he went on a rant about Carribbean's creating hip-hop and Black American's having no culture."
Yet another wrote, "Busta was already performing to a lot of empty seats and apathetic fans. When he started going off, they turned the camera to the audience and the little people that were there were leaving. He didn't help his situation at all."
