Busta Rhymes Addresses His Frustrated ESSENCE Fest Rant
Busta Rhymes has spoken out following his 2024 ESSENCE Festival performance in New Orleans, La., on Friday (July 5).
The “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See” MC took to Instagram two days later (July 7) to explain himself “scolding” the crowd for recording on their phones, instead of “interacting like humans” with his music.
“AS ALWAYS Y’ALL KNOW THE MANTRA, THE BLESSINGS DON’T STOP SO WE WON’T EVER STOP!!! WHEN THE TRUTH IS UNDISPUTED YOU DON’T GOTTA EVER BE CONCERNED WITH THE SH*T TALK AND THE FALSE NARRATIVES!!” he wrote in all caps in a lengthy caption. “WE ARE TO BLESSED TO BE MAD ABOUT ANYTHING THAT WE LOVE TO DO!! EVERY PLATFORM WE APPRECILOVE Y’ALL BUT WHEN YOU TALK MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT TOU TALKING ABOUT OR SILENCE IS THE BETTER OPTION.”
He went on, “JUST FOR THE RECORD WHAT Y’ALL SAW THEM GIVING WITH THAT WRONG NARRATIVE ABOUT FRUSTRATION WITH THE CROWD NOT ROCKING WITH US IS CALLED ‘SHOWMANSHIP’ RESPECTFULLY!! [FROM] THE REST OF THE WORLD’S POINT OF VIEW IT LOOKS LIKE AND SOUNDS LIKE AND FEELS LIKE NEW ORLEANS WAS TURNT ALL THE WAY THE F**K UP AND WE ALL ENJOYED IT!! THANK Y’ALL SO MUCH AND WE LOVE Y’ALL!! THAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN US AND THEM!!”
The coveted Hip-Hop icon concluded by expressing how “honored” he was to be a part of the 30th anniversary of Essence Fest and how good it felt to, “RECEIVE THE INCREDIBLE ENERGY FROM NEW ORLEANS AND EVERYONE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD WHO FLEW OUT TO TURN UP WITH US.”
Busta also included footage from him privately landing in the NOLA to him hitting the Essence stage alongside his longtime right-hand man, Spliff Star.
Busta performed his biggest hits during the three-day evening concert series, but kept it all too real when he called out the crowd for paying more attention to their phones than his discography. For true fans of Busta, it’s obvious the rant came from a good place — but for others, some felt as if he was seriously upset and being disrespectful.
“Ayo, f**k them camera phones, too. Let’s get back to interacting like humans,” he shouted during set, addressing the crowd’s inattentiveness. “Put them weird-a** devices down. I ain’t from that era. Them sh*ts don’t control the soul. F**k your phone.”
“I will point every last one of y’all out until y’all a**es is up. Thirty-three years of doing this sh*t, I ain’t used to ni***s sitting down at my show,” he added with an albeit smile. “I don’t give a f**k! All age groups, get your a** up now!”
The 52-year-old then made it clear that he has “zero tolerance for bullsh*t energy,” and demanded that New Orleans “make me feel like we home,” due to it being his first time performing at the festival.
Take a look at Busta going off below and him explaining his reasoning above.
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