Megan Thee Stallion performs on the main stage at Outside Lands on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023.
Magali Gauthier/Special to SFGATE
Rapper Megan Thee Stallion’s Coachella set ended abruptly on Sunday when her microphone cut out between songs, with her dancers still on the mainstage.
The artist, who was the day’s second highest-billed act, was nearing the end of a bawdy and charismatic performance, during which she brought out Queen Latifah, Victoria Monet and Ciara as special guests. She had just finished one of her most popular songs, “Big Ole Freak,” and appears to have been about to begin “Mamushi.” Visuals for that track appeared on the stage’s LED screens, and livestream watchers online heard the beat begin.
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But the mainstage’s speakers were quiet and in the crowd, confusion reigned. Some audience members booed. As the silence stretched beyond a few moments, the crowd began to chant the artist’s name.
At approximately 9:27 p.m., two minutes after her scheduled end time, the rapper’s microphone appears to have cut out. The “Mamushi” visuals disappeared from the screen and were replaced with a camera shot of the stage.
Megan continued to speak into the microphone but was inaudible at Empire Polo Club. On the livestream, she can be heard complaining, “Don’t y’all do the hotties like that,” and then, “Run ‘Mamushi’ back for the motherf—king hotties.”
She then exclaimed into the mic, “Bitch, they said we gotta go!”
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She gamely proceeded to silently run through the song, and her dancers continued with their routine with some confusion. After about a minute, Megan and her entourage took a bow and left the stage, with a goodbye unheard by the audience.
On Reddit, a commenter made a post titled “Not Megan Thee Silenced?” with a meme of Oprah Winfrey and the caption “Were you silent? Or were you SILENCED?”
Post Malone, Sunday’s headliner, was the next artist scheduled to perform on the Coachella mainstage, at 10:25 p.m. “WAP,” Megan’s 2020 hit with Cardi B, also went unplayed.
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Additional reporting by Stephen Council and Dan Gentile.
