Friday evening (August 28th) in New Orleans proved to be one ladened with nostalgia as the residents of the historical city convened to witness Lil Wayne's epic Lil Weezyana Fest. The rapper paid homage to his city on the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with the proceeds of the concert going to his Tha Carter Fund charity, which contributes to after school programs for children in Arizona. As the "Nothing but Trouble" rapper promised, the fest featured a Hot Boys reunion, Master P, Drake and many more musical guests.
Back in July, Wayne announced that he would be hosting his first ever Lil Weezyana Fest to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of Katrina and the fighting spirit of New Orleans residents to rebuild after the natural disaster laid siege to their city. According to HipHop DX, Friday night proved to be one for the books as Wayne took to the stage rapping tracks from his extensive catalog of music from his 10-plus-year solo career such as "A Milli," "Steady Mobbin," "Georgia Bush" and more.
True to his word, Wayne also reunited the Hot Boys for the throngs of people, bringing out Juvenile, Turk and Mannie Fresh (though B.G. was noticeably absent as he currently incarnated, serving a 14-year prison sentence. His mother came to support the reunion in his stead.) The group performed hits such as "Bling Bling," "I Need a Hot Girl" and Juvenile's "Back That Azz Up."
A video posted by #RIPTABVIRGILSR (@hotboyturk_32) on Aug 29, 2015 at 2:38am PDT
Of course, the night wasn't without controversy, as the Tidal streamed event ran into a bit of interference from Apple Music once Wayne brought Drake to the stage to perform hits such as "Back to Back," "HYFR" and "Know Yourself" -- a peformance not displayed to Tidal subscribers. According to reports, Apple allegedly threatened Tidal with a $20 million dollar lawsuit if any of the Toronto rapper's performance was streamed.
apple said fuck you pic.twitter.com/avpSwZ7H6g — Mr. World Premiere (@yardieiz4life) August 29, 2015
A video posted by Yungin' (@augustalsina) on Aug 28, 2015 at 10:18pm PDT
Although Birdman was not in attendance, Wayne brought out the patriarch of New Orleans hip Hop, Master P, to grace the stage with his presence. In addition, Wayne also brought out fellow New Orleans natives, August Alsina, Gudda Gudda, Dizzy, Kidd Kidd and Fee Banks.
The night concluded with fireworks and brass bands.
