Earlier this week, Flo Milli cut her first set short while opening up for Gunna on his tour in Colombus due to fans throwing items at her onstage. While Gunna went on X to say no disrespect will be tolerated towards her, she tweeted that she's not shook and has "tough skin". But Flo Milli should not have to have tough skin while performing, and that's the problem.
On her first night on tour with Gunna, Flo Milli cuts her set short after having things thrown at her pic.twitter.com/51euTP6svk
— Female Rap Room (@FemaleRapRoom) May 5, 2024
For starters, this is only the first show of a sixteen-stop tour and a terrible start to it. Also, it's the third time in three years that opening female acts for major rappers have faced belligerent fan behavior. Ari Lennox recently spoke out against Rod Wave for not defending her after having a bottle thrown at her while opening up for him. Rico Nasty isn't a stranger to aggressive fans either, dealing with harsh responses and items thrown at her also while opening on Playboi Carti's 2021 tour. During her time on tour, Rico noted her experience with Carti fans took an emotional and mental toll on her.
The lack of respect for women performing live needs to be addressed, especially black women.
For a group constantly subject to prejudice and disrespect, not showing the common decency and decorum as a fan when they're performing only furthers what they deal with on a daily basis. Especially when it feels like there's little protection for them on behalf of the musical acts they're working with.
Fans have to realize their disrespect makes them a continuous detriment to performers like Flo Milli. More importantly, fans should remember their energy isn't exactly the same for her male counterparts. If they did the same thing to a Gunna or a Rod Wave, they could easily face instant repercussions. One minute you're throwing something at a performer onstage and the next, you're suing against them and their entourage. Now you're looking to have them held responsible for their actions when you were the original aggressor. It's only a matter of time before something small becomes bigger. It's only a matter of time before someone is made an example out of.
Playing stupid games means winning stupid prizes.
This isn't to say that fans should be acting accordingly in fear of facing retaliation for their actions. As a fan, you should showing respect for the sake of the artists performing in front of you. Shouldn't matter if it's who you really came to see or not. Bottom line, let's all act like we have some home training because this has to stop, expeditiously.
