Busta Rhymes really wasn’t vibing with the Essence Festival crowd’s energy during his Friday night set. So much so, he cursed out the audience for having their phones out during his performance.
Listen to Hip-Hop Made: NYC and more on the free Audacy app
Getting frustrated with the crowd for either watching the show through their phone screens or sitting down while distractedly doom scrolling, Busta let his annoyance be known.
“Ayo f*** them camera phones. Let’s get back to interacting like humans,” the rapper expressed. “Put them weird a** devices down. I ain’t from that era. Them s***s don’t control us all. F*** your phone.”
Busta then began singling out concertgoers, saying, “I will point every last one of y’all out until y’all a**es is up!” Also telling the crowd, “I ain’t used to n****s sitting down at my show. I don’t give a f***!”
The rapper who’s career spans 33 years, then instructed “all age groups” to “get y’all big head a**es up” before going on to assert that he wouldn’t tolerate such behavior, especially since it was his debut performance at the New Orleans festival.
“The reason why there will be zero tolerance for bulls*** energy in here is because this is my first time in New Orleans at the f***ing 30-year anniversary of the Essence Fest.” Busta declared, “Make me feel like we home!"
Check out the candid moment, thanks to some fan recorded footage of the livestream, below.