Busta Rhymes Goes Off On Concertgoers Using Phones As Part Of ESSENCE Fest Rant

Busta Rhymes shook the stage up, literally, at the 30th anniversary ESSENCE Fest concert in New Orleans earlier this weekend.

In addition to hosting the reunion of Cash Money’s Hot Boys, ESSENCE Fest also brought out the New York MC for his inaugural appearance at the weekend-long event. At one point during his set, Busta stopped the music and addressed the crowd, demanding everyone rise to their feet and even directly calling concertgoers out for sitting down.

“Hey, yo, f##k them camera phones too,” Busta Rhymes said.

“Let’s get back to interacting like humans. Put them weird ass devices down. I ain’t from that era. Them s##ts don’t control the soul. F##k your phone. Excuse me gentlemen. Thank you very much. I won’t point every last one of y’all out until y’all ass is up.”

He continued, “Thirty three years of doing 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 ass up! I see you beautiful queen. Get up too.”

As Busta continued, he remarked on what he described as his “zero tolerance” policy for lack luster energy.

“F##k going on. Everybody up Top too, get your big head a#### up,” he said. “Look, the reason why there will be zero tolerance for b####### energy in here is because this is my first time in New Orleans at the f###ing 30 years anniversary of Essence Fest. This is my first time. This is my brother first time, and it’s my other brother. First time. That’s right. Make me feel like we home.”

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Video of Busta’s outburst to the crowd quickly generated traction on social media, with a version of the video circulation on Twitter attracting well over a million views essentially overnight. Additionally, the reactions from his fans and viewers of the ESSENCE Fest stream poured in as the video began going viral.

Many users sided with Busta, citing the crowd’s mid energy as the source of his frustration.

“I been to well over 100 rap shows. Busta and Red/Meth are the greatest hip-hop performers living. Sad to see this new generation not appreciate their greatness the way others genre’s do for their legends,” a Twitter user remarked in a tweet.

However, some users suggested the artist is to blame for a low vibrational crowd.

“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 user wrote in a tweet.

Also, weather apparently played a major factor in the turnout for Busta’s performance, according to concertgoers.

“For context, there was damn near a hurricane outside of the stadium. That is why there were only like 400 people in there 😂 Also, don’t judge a short clip, it was light-hearted, and he put on an amazing set. My section had a ball,” the user tweeted.

Check out the full video below.