Rakim did not take kindly to the treatment he received from some fans while performing at Insane Clown Posse‘s annual Gathering of the Juggalos festival.
The rap legend took the stage at the Ohio festival earlier this month, and footage that surfaced on Monday (August 26) shows him checking the crowd for throwing bottles at him during his set.
“Chill with the muthafucking bottles, man,” a disgruntled Rakim says in the clip.
He then attempts to get the audience back on his side, saying: “For everybody that came to have a good time, make some noise,” receiving a somewhat lackluster response.
“‘Cause, you know, I’m not tryna get hit with no fucking bottle, man. I love y’all, but I don’t wanna walk off stage while we having a good time, you know what I mean?”
The God MC then resumes his performance with a rendition of his classic DJ Premier-produced track “It’s Been a Long Time.”
Rakim checks the crowd at Gathering of the Juggalos music festival for throwing bottles and threatens to walk off stage. pic.twitter.com/gqoyJvnCIX
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) August 26, 2024
Rakim’s somewhat unexpected appearance at the Gathering of the Juggalos came shortly after he returned with his fourth solo album and first in 15 years, G.O.D.’s NETWORK: REB7RTH.
The seven-track project boasts appearances from a host of fellow Hip Hop greats, past and present, including Snoop Dogg, DMX, Method Man, Prodigy, Nipsey Hussle, Kurupt, B.G. and Chino XL.
It also finds Rakim showing off his talents on the other side of the booth, handling duties as a producer and even contributing scratches.
“I always was attached to making beats,” he told Grammy.com. “But I got to the point where I’m confident with my production now. I got the chance to produce the album and jumped at the opportunity.”
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Last month, the 56-year-old also weighed in on the battle between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, stating that it was a good thing for Hip Hop and “put a lot of things in perspective.”
“I think that [the battle] was important, because these brothers are at the top of the game, and revered Hip Hop,” he told Billboard. “You know, a lot of people in that position won’t accept no challenge, because they got too much to lose. So, it was dope that these brothers put the mainstream success down and said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’
“The battle put a lot of things in perspective — because it showed the difference between real Hip Hop and mainstream Hip Hop. Younger artists now know that there’s a difference. A lot of them didn’t even understand that.
“They just listened to the majority, not knowing that a lot of people don’t categorize what they were hearing as real Hip Hop. The battle was very needed for the genre. I tip my hat to them brothers.”
