GloRilla: Third Person Dies From Concert Stampede

A third person has succumbed to their injuries following a stampede at GloRilla’s concert with Finesse2Tymes on Sunday (March 5). The concert was held at Main Street Armory in Rochester, NY where seemingly unfounded reports of gunfire started the stampede.

Ten people were injured including two women who were killed in the aftermath. Rhondesia Belton, a 33-year-old woman died from her injuries after being taken to the hospital. The death toll then rose to two after a 35-year-old woman succumbed to her injuries late Monday (March 6). Now a third, Aisha Stephens, has died according to the Associated Press. Stephens was the second person left in critical condition after the incident. The seven others have been since released from the hospital.

On Wednesday (March 10), the city refused to renew the venue’s entertainment license. The venue has been shut down while criminal and regulatory investigations have begun said Patrick Beath, the city’s deputy corporation counsel per AP. Fire and code enforcement authorities are inspecting the building and reviewing photos and video from the concert to determine if there were any violations, he added.

GloRilla spoke out about the tragedy on Monday (March 6).

“I am devastated & heartbroken over the tragic deaths that happened after Sunday’s show,” GloRilla tweeted late Monday. “My fans mean the world to me [sad face emoji] praying for their families & for a speedy recovery of everyone affected.”

Rochester Mayor Malik Evans called the fatal stampede “totally unacceptable” and is determined to find out how this tragedy happened.

“We are going to hold people accountable for what happened last night, period,” Evans said per HipHopDX. “I intend to get to the bottom of this.”

He added: “If you go to a concert, you do not expect to be trampled. Your loved ones expect you to be able to come home and talk about the experience that you had at that great concert.”

The Best Hip-Hop and R&B Songs of February 2023

• "Boy's a liar Pt. 2" - Ice Spice and PinkPantheress

  Ice Spice and PinkPantheress teamed up for “Boy’s a liar Pt. 2” which earned them the No. 4 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. This was the first time the two collaborated and the first time both artists got a Top 5 spot on the chart.

• "Greatness" - Quavo

  Quavo’s “Greatness” gave fans the answers they were looking for after Takeoff’s tragic death; What is the future of the Migos? “Came in, swept the game like a storm with the muthaf—— flow, n—-, Take did that/ So don’t ask about the group, he gone, we gone, young n—- it can’t come back, damn!” Quavo raps on the outro. He later gave a shoutout to Takeoff and Migos’ impact on the culture: “I couldn’t do it without the greatest group in the world … I couldn’t do it without the greatest nephew in the world.”

• "Lottery" - Latto ft. Lu Kala

  Latto proved in her February offering that she can still make a great rap/pop bop. “Lottery” featuring Lu Kala earned the Congolese-Canadian singer her first Billboard Hot 100 hit when it debuted at No. 83 on the chart. “Lottery” is Latto’s first single of the year following last December’s “Another Nasty Song” and “FTCU” featuring GloRilla and the late Gangsta Boo.

• "Special Remix" - Lizzo ft. SZA

  Lizzo and SZA finally gave us what we were waiting for in the “Special Remix.” The two teased the single back in November 2022 after SZA joined Lizzo on stage for her Special Tour. SZA previously told Rolling Stone how much she adores working with Lizzo. “We just have so much fun together. And I feel like she gets me. She’s another person who has hella music tastes and doesn’t fit in anybody’s box of anything,” she said. This is both Lizzo and SZA’s first collab together and their first release of 2023.

• "Internet Trolls" - GloRilla

  In “Internet Trolls” Glo raps about what people present on the internet is never what it actually is offline. The record is GloRilla’s second song of the year following her collab with Moneybagg Yo for “On Wat U On.”

• "Champions" - NLE Choppa

  NLE Choppa dropped his upbeat and motivational track “Champions” on Feb. 3. The rapper explained the meaning behind the song in an Instagram post writing,”My definition of a champion is anyone who has faced adversity and still [hasn’t] let it define who they are on the inside,” he said. The Memphis native is gearing up for a follow-up his 2019 Cottonwood EP, which has since earned a gold certification.

• "Moonlight" - Kali Uchis

  As Kali Uchis prepares for the release of Red Moon In Venus, she dropped her second single “Moonlight.” The track was first teased on November 20, 2022 via Kali’s official TikTok. Uchis has described her new album as “a timeless, burning expression of desire, heartbreak, faith, and honesty, reflecting the divine femininity of the moon and Venus.”