Busta Rhymes Goes in On Essence Festival Crowd: “F*ck Your Phone”

Source: Bennett Raglin / Getty

Busta Rhymes was simply not about the mincing of words at the Essence Festival in New Orleans, where he checked the audience for “sitting down at my show” instead of giving the Extinction Level Even t rapper the energy he’s used to while delivering the kind of vibrant performances only he can deliver.

But Bus a Bus didn’t stop at cursing out the crowd over its lackluster participation, he also got on audience members for a relatively new thing that has been addressed often recently as it relates to live performances: audience members enjoying the show through their phones instead of being present in the moment.

“Ayo, f*ck them camera phones, too,” Busta Rhymes, born Trevor George Smith Jr., said to the crowd from  New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome stage on the festival’s opening night. “Let’s get back to interacting like humans. “Put them weird-ass devices down. I ain’t from that era. Them sh*ts don’t control the soul. F*ck your phone.”

Apparently, some festivalgoers were slow to put their phones away as the former Leaders of the New School member demanded, so Busta emphasized that he was not asking, he was telling them to put the phones away while he was on stage.

“I will point every last one of y’all out until y’all asses is up,” he said, adding that he had “zero tolerance for bullshit energy” curing his first Essence Festival performance.

“Make me feel like we home,” the “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See” artist demanded.

In a fiery Instagram post, Busta explained that his outburst over his frustration with the crowd was about “SHOWMANSHIP” and that he wasn’t “CONCERNED WITH THE SH*T TALK AND THE FALSE NARRATIVES” in regards to the backlash floating around social media in response to video clips of him going in on the audience.

Seriously, who doesn’t get hyped during a live Busta Rhymes show? Maybe that lack of energy is just what happens when you’re watching a live show through a small screen.