During her headline performance at the 2024 BET Experience concert, Cardi B faced significant technical issues that led her to publicly criticize her production team.
Amid her 40-minute set, which included hits like “I Like It,” “Up,” and “WAP,” the Grammy-winning rapper was forced to halt her performance at one point. Addressing the problems onstage, Cardi expressed her frustration directly, saying “For production, y’all messing up my pyros, the fans [are] off, [and] y’all [are] messing up my music. Fk am I paying y’all psy a** nas for? Turn my fking fan on, b**ch. Let’s go.”
Cardi’s public remarks sparked debate online, with one Twitter user stating “I understand that people have families to feed, but I [wish] we lived in a better world because no one should ever be disrespected like this in a workplace environment.”
However, Cardi defended her actions, explaining that she had paid $350,000 upfront for the show and expected the production team to deliver a flawless performance. “Girl, shut up… When you do a show, you don’t pay after. You pay before. I paid $350,000 upfront, [and] the least they could do is get my pyro ready and turn the fans on because guess what??? At the end of the day, that money is not returnable,” she responded.
Cardi further elaborated on her stance, stating “Don’t half-a** my show because [you’re] comfortable when I definitely don’t half-a** when it comes to paying,” and “Don’t tell me how to talk to anybody when you the same h** talkin’ bout my kids and other deceased parents for no reason.”
The BET Experience bill also featured performances by other artists, including Gunna, Sexyy Red, Davido, and Jordan Ward.