Monica has called out the Lovers & Friends Festival over an apparent lineup mix-up.
On Sunday (February 4), the R&B singer spoke with Billboard at the 2024 Grammy Awards, where she revealed that she was just as surprised as her fans about the booking.
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“Well, I’m looking forward to the festival. I’m thinking that maybe someone will call me and actually book me — the correct way,” she said when asked about her involvement with the Las Vegas festival.
“I don’t have any beef with them. We did great business before, so if you give me a call, we can work it out.”
The news comes on the heels of both Mary J. Blige and Juvenile finding fault with the festival’s lineup.
At the tail end of January, the 53-year-old singer initially revealed that while she was billed alongside titans such as Lil Wayne, Nas, Ludacris, Nelly and Snoop Dogg, she would not be taking the stage at the popular annual Hip Hop and R&B gathering.
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Blige cited a scheduling conflict with her own project and clarified that she was never booked for the event in the first place.
“I am beyond humbled by the response from all of you about the announcement of me on Lovers & Friends Festival,” she wrote on social media. “Unfortunately my inclusion was an error as I will be busy in preparation for my Strength of a Woman Summit just one week later!”
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However, days later, TMZ reported that the What’s the 411? legend was re-added to the lineup. When fans inquired about the mix-up, MJB implied that the dispute involved money.
“[wry face emoji] [moneybags emoji],” she wrote on her Instagram Stories.
Juvenile also took to social media to address Lovers & Friends organizers, putting them on blast for doing “bad business” by featuring him on promotional material but not paying him.
“Here we go again, man,” the former Cash Money rapper said in a video. “These cats at Lovers & Friends — whoever in charge of Lovers & Friends, man, y’all doing bad business. Y’all done put my name on a flyer and y’all know you ain’t sent me no deposit, ain’t sent me no bread or nothin’.
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“[Y’all] keep on playing games, talking ’bout y’all gonna get back at me. Look, y’all playing games with the wrong muthafucka, man. If y’all gon’ book me — if y’all not gon’ book me, take my muthafuckin’ name off y’all flyer. I ain’t got no problem with that, I could do something else with my time.”
He concluded: “I ain’t trippin’. But don’t put my fuckin’ name on y’all flyers if y’all know you ain’t paid me no money. That’s fucked up.”
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Lovers & Friends Festival has faced similar criticism almost every year since its inaugural event announcement in 2020. That first year — which was later canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic — felt the wrath of Lil Kim, Twista and Ma$e, all three of whom denied being involved in the festival.
