BUKU Music + Art Project has over 60 acts this year, but only a few headliners. The festival sets out to combine pop culture with the New Orleans underground arts community.
This year’s lineup featured artists like deadmau5, Travis Scott, Zeds Dead, Young Thug, ZHU and 21 Savage.
Young Thug, known for his unconventional vocals and many mixtapes, was set to perform on the Power Plant stage Friday night. However, he cancelled his performance mere hours beforehand. But, the BUKU team was quick to solve the problem and swiftly put Juvenile in his place.
“We just found out that Young Thug isn’t coming due to a personal emergency… so we called up Juvenile & ya boy is OTW,” the BUKU Project tweeted.
Initially, the crowd was angry and visibly upset. Some people even threw bottles at the stage. This situation gave festival-goers a flashback to last October’s Voodoo Music + Arts Experience when Louisiana rapper Kevin Gates was scheduled to perform, but was unable to appear due to what Voodoo called an “unforeseen incarceration.” This announcement came just one day before the start of the festival.
He was captured on video kicking a 19-year-old female fan at a Florida concert. Gates was found guilty of battery and sentenced to 180 days in jail.
Thankfully, the bad vibes and disappointment didn’t last long, and the Power Plant crowd was once again filled with a unique energy, but this time, hyped up for Juvenile’s performance.
Juvenile, a New Orleans rapper, began his career with his 1995 debut album “Being Myself.” He is known for his 1999 single “Back That Thang Up” and is also a member of the hip hop group The Hot Boys. His most recent, and ninth studio album, was released in 2010.
