It is not an event featuring Nicki Minaj if there isn’t some major drama going down!
Just mere minutes before Nicki Minaj was set to the stage as the headliner on night one of the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans on Friday (July 1st) night, Hulu announced that her set would no longer air on their live stream. While live stream host Angela Yee said the decision was beyond their control with no further explanation, a source working the festival just let us know.
It comes down to a few things. There were aspects of the performance that Minaj’s team did not want broadcast in a professionally recorded manner. Other technical difficulties were also getting in the way. However, there was one unspecified thing that was bothering the rapper herself.
“She [Minaj] was going on and on about not being ready,” the festival worker tells us. “She made a point to not allow cameras to show the performance online. The decision was made as she was getting ready.”
This left many Barbz rightfully upset and disappointed. Many had signed up for Hulu with the intention of deleting it before the free trial was up to watch their Queen perform. This was her first full concert performance since she toured in 2019.