Webster Hall promoted a Nicki Minaj event, which took place on Christmas night. According to Ticketmaster and promoters, the event was scheduled to start at 10pm. However, they did not let us in the venue until about 10:20pm. Not so bad... but, it does get awkward. Keep reading. So, we are now in the venue and they have a hip hop room spinning random hip hop music (not Nicki's). I personally did not want to be amongst the crowd so I waited in the lobby along with my friend who was anxious to see Nicki in the main room which was not open yet. The lobby began to get crowded, because of course, people were there to see Nicki Minaj on the main stage and not parlay in the hip hop room. At this point, security got disrespectful. Why are some security guards so disrespectful to people? I understand it's a demanding job, but dag... I didn't do it. Lol. So yeah, security begins to holler that we cannot wait in the lobby because they were not opening the main stage until 12:30am. At this point Nicki fans are like "WHAT? The ticket says 10pm!" Security responded with an attitude that said, I don't give a f**k, I'll body slam you if you don't move... while flashing their flashlights in our eyes. How crazy is that?
SO, moving forward, the friend who I gifted this Nicki event to... her aunt works at Webster Hall, so she goes to get her and explain how crazy security was acting. Auntie was able to sneak us into VIP after being tossed back and forth between a couple of security guards who had tight "bung-wholes." Cool... now we are lounging in VIP and finally at midnight they open the doors to the main stage and you see everyone rush in like a swarm of bees. For the first hour, everyone was enjoying the music. The DJ spinning was pretty dope, his name was/is DJ Spynfo. I got to meet his manager in VIP. (I'm currently looking for a dope DJ to accompany me on my 2013 City Tour). When I look down, I began to feel the tension amongst everyone waiting downstairs who were packed in and on top of each other like a box of melted chocolates. It was now 2am, and Nicki was nowhere to be found. "Is she performing? Is she hosting? Forget all those questions... Is she even COMING!?" We were all stuck on stupid and continued to wait.
At approximately 2:30am Nicki is officially in the building across the way from us in VIP. They shined a spot light on her and all her fans went crazy. They were happy to finally see her after standing as early as 8pm, when the line began to form to about 2:30am, without any visuals on her. She waves, blows kisses, steals the camera from this camera guy and captures some footage of the audience. Shortly after, Nicki turns around and parlays with her crew and some others. It's now 3am and NO-NICKI-anything. You know New Yorkers keep is real so... they started to BOOOOOOOOOO her. She seemed to be shocked, as if she was unaware that people were anxiously waiting and then signals for a mic to finally address her fans. "Barbs.....! Did you guys think this was a performance?" In her high pitch squeaky diamond-selling voice. But her barbs didn't appreciate that. DJ Funkmaster Flex then tells Nicki, "They want you to come down," (VIP was elevated in a Mezzanine). So now her fans are like, "Yay, maybe now, she will do something worth the 50 bucks we paid for at the door," (I overheard). She did something alright but it was NOT so exciting to NYC. Once she hit the stage a swarm of random men crowded around her as she saluted and touched some of her fans, then requested for five "ratchet" females to come on stage. After she takes her pick, she proceeds to publicly humiliate these women by having them dance on stage "ratchet-ly" while calling them ratchet and throwing one hundred dollar bills on them. So... NY continued to BOOOOOOOO her. Take a look at the footage and let me know your thoughts.
Just like that... Nicki was gone and everyone fled the club angry. Disappointed. All in all, Nicki is a dope artist and has opened many doors and inspired many females. She has made a worldwide impact on many people. Despite, all the ranting and raving I heard around me, I made a choice to enjoy myself that night regardless of the outcome. To me, what was really important was being able to be in good company on Christmas day, meet new people, have health and the opportunity to be where I was. I also learned a lot and brain stormed for my future throughout the night.
Hope everyone has been enjoying these winter holidays and also able to recognize the miracle in the moment of being alive; the miracle in seeing another second, another minute, another hour, another day... Happy Holidays.
xoxo
