Rapper Busta Rhymes was caught on camera cursing at fans because they were on their phones during his performance at the Essence Festival on Friday night, July 5. Rhymes got angry when he didn’t feel the energy of the crowd.
“Fuck camera phones. Let’s just talk like human beings again. Put these weird devices down. I’m not from that era. These idiots can’t control us all. Fuck your phones,” the 52-year-old said, as seen in a video that surfaced on X.
The ‘Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See’ rapper then pointed to people in the audience individually and asked them to stand up for his act. “I’m going to keep pointing at all of you until all of you assholes stand up,” he said. “33 years of this bullshit. I’m not used to sitting down at my shows. I don’t care. People of all ages, get your asses up now.”
“What’s going on?” he added, as he noticed the people sitting at the top of the room. “Put all your big heads up.”
Rhimes, whose birth name was Trevor George Smith Jr., said he flared up because he “has zero tolerance for bullshit energy.” He also said the reason he flared up was because “this is my first time in New Orleans for the 30th anniversary of the Essence Festival.” “Make me feel like we’re home,” he said.
‘You can’t bully the audience into liking you’
Fans condemned Rhymes’ behavior in the comments section of the video. Some pointed out that the stadium was pretty empty. “Busta has been talking differently lately. I’m glad he got to give a speech to empty seats,” one user wrote. “I heard he has a bad personality,” another added, while another wrote, “I would have walked out, any artist who addresses their audience with N words should not be on stage performing for ADOS/Black citizens. How disrespectful and cheap.” “An artist that the crowd wants to see doesn’t have to beg for engagement. No southerner is trying to hear Busta Rhymes at a concert. Take that shit back to New York,” one user commented.
“Nothing could have prepared me for the camera flipping in front of an empty crowd,” wrote a user. Another commented, “This never made sense. I paid for entertainment but I’m being instructed on how to react… If this is entertaining, I’ll stand up and put my hands in the air. Entertain me.” Another user wrote, “You can’t make the audience like you by intimidating them.”
