Jay-Z and Alicia Keys brought their "Empire State Of Mind" to the Tony Awards stage with the cast of Hell's Kitchen last night (Sunday, June 16), resulting in a pretty cool reunion to see. However, this moment also brought back old memories, namely when Lil Mama crashed their performance during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. Furthermore, she trended on social media after this performance with folks joking about that incident, although it would've been hard to crash as Hov and Keys apparently either pre-recorded his verse or went somewhere else in the event's venue to do so. Either way, it resulted in some pretty funny memes online.
Moreover, even though many fans hoped that Alicia Keys and Jay-Z's tease of this performance actually meant that another collab was on the way, this was at least still a big moment. It had been years since they last performed the track together, and even in this limited capacity, "Empire State Of Mind" remains one of the generational late 2000s and early 2010s bangers. Also, it's been so long since the Lil Mama incident that a reunion in that sense also doesn't seem too far-fetched. After all, enough people remembered that moment to immediately reference it.
Lil Mama Comes Up Due To Jay-Z & Alicia Keys' Reunion
However, this Lil Mama moment with Jay-Z and Alicia Keys also brought a lot of pain and depression, as she recently told The Jay Hill Podcast. "I had to deal with Ed Lover on the radio in the morning, Wendy Williams, Angie Martinez, who talked to Jay, and he was just like, ‘Yeah, you know. I didn’t like it,’" she expressed. "He was so angry and I was just trying my best to do everything I could do. After a while, I was like, ‘Forgive yourself, bro. Move forward.' Bro, I was hurt. I was depressed. I was like, ‘Yo, what’s going on?’ And then you got everybody telling you, ‘You’re doing bad.’ People pointing at you, like, ‘What did you do?’"
Lil Mama Responds
Meanwhile, Lil Mama actually responded to memes about her crashing Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' performance as a result of this Tonys appearance. "The Caption was Really Suppose to Be: Chillle Y'all Not Gon Let Them Forget That She's Part of The Reason. 4th and Latest Number One Single for Both Artist. If Your Lips are Dry Shop @vaniteasetcosmetics ... Happy Birthday and Happy Father's Day To Lil Mama Pops Too. #BigTrue #word #June16."