Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Zenger
Zenger
Entertainment
Adam Eckert

Busta Rhymes Felt Like He Knew Gary Vee Before They Met

(L-R) Host Mark Zito and Gary Vee attend SiriusXM At Super Bowl LVII on February 10, 2023, in Phoenix, Arizona. Vaynerchuk hosted VeeCon 2023 in Indianapolis, Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium. CINDY ORD/BENZINGA

Ever feel like you know someone even though you’ve never met them? That’s how one famous rapper felt about a famous entrepreneur he had only seen in social media videos ahead of VeeCon 2023. 

Busta Rhymes performs during 2023 Strength Of A Woman Festival & Summit – Mary J. Blige Concert at State Farm Arena on May 12, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. Busta Rhymes felt he and Vaynerchuck had met as he entertained the panel at VeeCon 2023. PRINCE WILLIAMS/BENZINGA

VeeCon is a multi-day super conference with discussion panels from prominent business leaders, marketing executives, and pop culture artists. The event was hosted by famous internet businessman Gary Vaynerchuk.

This year’s conference took place in Indianapolis, Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium, which is home to the NFL team, the Indianapolis Colts.

Speakers featured Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington, Drew Barrymore, Jessica Alba, former NFL star Ed Reid, and Neil Patrick Harris.

Rap artist Busta Rhymes headlined Thursday night’s entertainment at the business, tech and pop culture super conference VeeCon.

Busta Rhymes was notably famous in the 1990s including his associated acts with Sean “P. Diddy” Combs.

Toward the end of his electric performance, he praised Vaynerchuk, aka “Gary Vee.”

“A lot of people think they have to speak or behave in a certain way to live up to some undefined standards of society, but Vaynerchuk speaks in the tongue of the people,” Busta Rhymes said, adding that he feels like he knows Vaynerchuk, although they only just met that weekend.

“It’s extremely important that we relate to each other, and he makes that easy,” Rhymes added. “It’s important … that we can see ourselves in each other when we communicate with each other. There’s something about that relativity that significantly contributes to the energy of how we receive each other.”

When the rapper clicks into Meta Platforms Inc’s (NASDAQ: META) Instagram app and stumbles upon a Gary Vee video, he can tell that he is speaking to people like he would talk to his friends.

Vaynerchuk doesn’t worry about being politically correct or following any rules, and it feels like he’s actually having a conversation with you through the screen, the rapper said.

“When he talks to me though, it feels like I’m talking back to him, and we are having this conversation because I’m looking at the Gram, and he’s saying sh*t, and I’m like ‘word, son … real sh*t bro,'” Busta Rhymes told the crowd. 

Rhymes, whose real name is Trevor George Smith Jr., didn’t stop there: “The level of captivating energy [Gary Vee] has is profound.”

That’s the reason why everyone is at VeeCon 2023 and that’s the reason why he is able to reach so many people through words, he added. 

Produced in association with Benzinga

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.