Nicki Minaj headlined Essence Festival Friday night and it was MANY things. Fans believe she dissed Kanye West when she decided to axe his song “Monster” from her performance line up on the heels of his Cardi B collab. The QUEEN also popped off about ‘b*tches’ playing with her bag, likely calling out Hulu for NOT streaming her performance. We’ve got the recap inside…
Whew! Nicki Minaj had one “monster” of a performance in NOLA over the weekend.
The QUEEN raptress was tapped to headline Friday’s Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans, following a two-year hiatus for the festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Barbz were HYPE to the Head Barb hit the stage, however, viewers at home missed her performance after Hulu cut her act from their livestream after previously streaming all of the other performances. More on that in a few.
Mid-performance, Nicki stopped DJ Boof when he played Kanye West’s hit “Monster.”
“Hold up. Hold up. I’m monster’d out. I’m monstered out and we don’t f*** with clowns. But you know what? I got to shoutout New Orleans,” Nicki told the audience.
The shade of it all. Fans speculate the diss is due to Kanye’s collaboration on Cardi’s B’s new single, “Hot Sh*t.” It dropped the same day as Nicki’s performance.
Nicki also popped off on all these “clowns,” “mini-mes,” and “wannabe Nickis.”
Peep the clips below:
There’s also talk that Nicki could still be pissed at Ye for not releasing “New Body” after she rewrote her verse for him to accommodate his spiritual journey.
As we previously told you, Hulu cut Nicki’s performance from streaming despite streaming all of the other performances. Why? It’s unclear. The streaming service shared posts, promoting her live performance at ESSENCE Fest:
Word apparently got back to Nicki and she reacted on stage. She didn’t say names, but you can connect the dots. She also hinted at having wardrobe malfunctions. Watch the clip below:
The Barbz weren’t happy either:
Nah because this is so messed up, Hulu and essence has been promoting all week saying we’ll be to see Nicki Minaj LIVE on stream.. it seems like they sued us for interactions once again.
— She’s Fishy (@ShesFishy) July 2, 2022
So Hulu really sat up there and made us think they was live streaming Nicki Minaj when they wasn’t??? #ESSENCEFest pic.twitter.com/3Ev6BHc8Gs
— Nicki and Rihanna on B7 (@wiz_thcreator) July 2, 2022
After seeing the RUMORS that Kanye West didn’t clear his MONSTER song to be live streamed on HULU during Nicki Minaj performance at the Essence Festival, it reminded me he DO got beef with HULU!
— @TheFemaleRapGame on IG (@FemaleRapGame) July 3, 2022
I personally think that Nicki didn’t want to let her essence fest performance air on Hulu because she is pregnant?! She glowing tho pic.twitter.com/2UdWNTani6
— fancymaraj (@FANCYMARAJ) July 2, 2022
Hulu and Essence Fest — y’all are going to hell for not showing Nicki Minaj when you know that’s the only reason we’re watching #ESSENCEFest #ESSENCEFest2022 #ESSENCEFest2022 #EssenceFestOnHulu pic.twitter.com/SXDAepjjOE
— Kejiwhen (@kejiwhen) July 2, 2022
Some Barbz downloaded the Hulu app to watch her performance and were PISSED when they announced they would not be streaming her performance:
I know they didn’t just say Nicki Minaj ain’t performing on the live stream .. SOMEBODY GOTTA TELL NE SOMETHING NEOWWWWW !! I’m annoyed nfs . Just blew mine hulu , Angela ye . That’s all y’all gon say . Nicki did something happen?? This is unreal ! #ESSENCEFest #essencefestival pic.twitter.com/ykkdAYZwBm
— Sheinah’diah (@Sheinahdiah) July 2, 2022
On the bright side…
Young Money honcho Lil Wayne came out to support though. Weezy hit the stage to perform “Seeing Green” with Nicki and she thanked him for “saving the day.” Peep the clip above.
Young Money’s First Lady also debuted her tour visuals where she channels Catwoman in a custom black latex Micheal Ngo catsuit:
As videos of Nicki’s Essence Fest performance began to surface, folks speculated if she’s pregnant with baby #2. Backstage, she was spotted with her husband, Kenneth Petty, and her son, Papa Bear.
Mr. Petty goes for sentencing on July 6th after coping a plea deal to plead guilty for failing to register as a sex offender in California. The feds want him to serve time in prison for his violation instead of home confinement. Prosecutors have recommended a 15-month prison sentence, 5 years of supervised release and $55,000 in retribution. Yikes.
Photo: Twitter Screenshot
