Busta Rhymes celebrated his birthday earlier this month on May 20, but he received one sentimental gift days later thanks to an opera-singing fan.
The “What’s It Gonna Be” rapper recently attended the Gordon Parks Foundation Gala in New York City on May 23, where vocalist Nia Drummond sang him “Happy Birthday to You” acapella following the event.
Drummond seemingly approached the rapper — whose legal name is Trevor George Smith Jr. — as he was walking through a room at the gala with a cocktail in his hand. She simply asked if she could sing “Happy Birthday” to Smith and he agreed. But initially he looked as if he was being punked when Drummond first began singing in falsetto.
“What the f—k going on?” he laughed. “What the f—k? I definitely wasn’t expecting that. Start over. Start over. Start over. Gimme ya hand.”
Drummond held his hand as she hit several high notes while singing, which appeared to give him chills as he said, “Oh, my God.” At one point, Busta’s eyes became so big they looked like they were going to pop out of his head.
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The “Holla” artist embraced Drummond with a hug after she finished singing as he teared up and joked, “Why the f—k you do that to me?”
Drummond shared a video of her impromptu performance on social media, and the special moment quickly went viral on different platforms.
Busta responded in her comment section on Instagram as he wrote, “You are incredible Queen @niadrummond Thank you for the amazing Bday love.” But he wasn’t the only one brought to tears, according to fans who were also impressed with Drummond’s beautiful voice.
“Brought me to tears, god protect her, and send her to the highest of places for she is a queen. Whew your voice is amazing!!!!”
“Sing his eyes out the socket NIA.”
“Why am I cryin!! Ah! This is so beautiful!!!!”
“I had chills for him. That was incredible!”
Twitter fans also praised Drummond’s performance, including two who said, “Opera Music Does this to ya” and “She murda that!! classical music opera, singer. Love it!! #BlackExcellence.”
Busta Rhymes also shared a clip from Drummond’s vocal performance on his Instagram page. He is also in the process of preparing to release his new album produced by Timbaland, Pharrell Williams, and his longtime collaborator Swizz Beatz.
