Essence Festival salutes late New Orleans rappers 5th Ward Weebie, Soulja Slim and Magnolia Shorty
AP News,
A trio of deceased New Orleans rappers are being saluted as part of the 2023 Essence Festival of Culture.
The weekend festival is paying tribute to 5th Ward Weebie on Friday, Soulja Slim on Saturday and Magnolia Shorty on Sunday.
Hakeem Holmes, the festival’s vice president, announced the tributes Thursday during a press conference at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
The recognitions will occur between acts during the nightly, ticketed concert series inside the Superdome. Friday’s headliner is Lauryn Hill, who will culminate a show marking 50 years of hip-hop. Doug E. Fresh will also lead a segment with some of the genre’s notable rap artists, including Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One and EPMD.
Bounce rapper and producer Jerome “5th Ward Weebie” Cosey died in January 2020 at age 41 of medical complications resulting from an earlier surgery, the Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported. His career included local hits “Let Me Find Out” and “F(asterisk)(asterisk)(asterisk) Katrina” as well as a cameo on Drake’s 2018 hit “Nice for What.”
Gangsta rapper James “Soulja Slim” Tapp Jr. was killed in 2003. He scored a posthumous No. 1 hit a year later with “Slow Motion,” a collaboration with Juvenile.
Bounce star Renetta “Magnolia Shorty” Lowe-Bridgewater was shot to death in 2010. A sample of her singing on a remix of a Jadakiss single that originally featured Jazmine Sullivan was a key element of Drake’s hit “In My Feelings.”
