Jay-Z : A Review

With chants of Hova pounding throughout the stadium as well as diamonds being thrown around more frivolously then a dissatisfied warlord in Sierra Leone, the capacity crowd at Yankee Stadium knew their proverbial son was about to make his entrance.

Already attending a Jay-Z concert earlier this year I figured I knew the set list and prepared for a telegraphed evening full of Roc nation and Brooklyn references. But once again the kid from Marcy blew me away. After opening with the ‘Dynatsy Intro’ Jay-Z went straight into his multiplatinum single, ‘Run This Town’.

Before I go and further I would like to mention that prior to the show I was hoping for guest spots but was very skeptical due to the fact most of Jays closest musical associates were across the country in L.A. at some after party to the VMAs. However after the playback of the second hook of ‘Run this Town’ finished, Kanye West himself decided to finish the song.

Jay and Mr. West were not done there. They then went into the brand new remix of ‘Power’, which was performed for the first time ever. Kanye then brought out Nikki Minaj of Lil Waynes label Young Money to spit a verse for a new track entitled ‘Monster”.

After bringing out Swizz Beatz to perform “On To the Next One” Eminem reemerged to ride shotgun on Jays first Blueprints, ‘Renegade’. Jay then stunned the 12 hipsters that were in the audience when he brought out Chris Martin to perform ‘Lost’, ‘Viva la Vida’ and an absolutely amazing rendition of “Heart of the City”.

Although proving to me he was popular was enough, one of the aspects that have now made me a fan of Jay was his recognition of his roots and his appreciation of those who helped get to where he is now. Mid way through the concert Jay let the sold out crowd sing verses to Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Juicy’ and ‘One more chance’, and if P. Diddy’s “Making the Band” taught us anything its that if you don’t know the lyrics to ‘Juicy’ you’re not a fan of hip hop.

Jay then brought out so called “protégé” Drake to perform ‘Light Up’ and wife Beyonce surprised the audience as she sang the hook to ‘Forever Young’ to finish the show. Although it seems like I’m seriously showing off by name dropping all these amazing artists that I was fortunate enough to see, I’m not. Wait. Yes I am. Completely. I have my own blog for gosh sake, tooting my own horn is second nature.


Overall Jay-Z brought his best to the city that raised him. From his ability to surprise the audience, to his quick wit and candor as he called out fans trying to leave early to beat the traffic. Although different from Eminem’s multi-syllabic rhyme scheme Jays ability to inject energy through slower, more methodical rhymes was still felt from grandstand to center field.

Eminem and Jay-Z Concert Review

This past Monday I was lucky enough to witness a co headlining event featuring the 2 biggest rappers of my generation, in one of the most famous baseball stadiums in the world. As I was squished, sandwiched and compressed in the will call line outstide the venue a smile remained on my face realizing I was about to be a part of history and only a few hundred feet away from Eminem and Jay-Z....in Yankee Stadium.

Somethings you absolutely have to be experience before you die include: Drugs, love, a colonoscopy, and watching your favorite artist perform live. For and hour and a half I was fortunate enough to witness our generations’ Elivs spit lyrics full of anger, hate, and overall disregard to the profanity sensitive ear, and yet the capacity crowd of over 45,000 plus responded with nothing but praise and admiration.

Mr. Mathers also decided to bring out some old friends including his fellow bawdy Michiganites D12, as well as 50 cent who sported a glow in the dark ensemble apparently paying homage to ‘old-school’ esque performances of the late Michael Jackson.

After bringing 50 cent and company out for a mini set, Eminem brought the crowd to its feet with his 1999 hit, “My name is”. However the song was cut short after Em’s famous lyrics

“My brain's dead weight, I'm tryin to get my head straight
but I can't figure out which Spice Girl I want to impregnate
And Dr. Dre said……”

In which the song was interrupted buy a thick 808 that shook the ground followed by the proverbial and signature Dr. Dre piano that brought the man himself on stage. The legendary producer/rapper and apparent middle lineman for the Raiders tore the house down with his presence alone. Dre finished his set with ‘Still D.R.E’ and ‘Nuttin But a G’thang’.

After Eminem closed his set with “Lose Yourself” along with a luminescent pyrotechnic display the crowd had about 20 minutes to rest their legs and buy beer for $9 a bottle. Usually a time to discuss what we had just witnessed I was interrupted by a set of boos by the then now standing patrons of Yankee Stadium. Who could bring on such negative attitude on such a positive night? That’s right, Lebron James along with his entourage of about 15 were making their way to their seats. I was too surprised and thus unprepared to take my camera out and take a picture as he made his way through the crowd, like, doesn’t he usually make televised announcements for things like that?

My Review On Jay-Zs performance tomorrow.