Jay-Z is the greatest
rapper alive.
Anyone who was in attendance at
his sold-out KeyArena concert Saturday night can attest to that
fact. Hova, Young Hov, Jigga, Hovito, whatever you call him Shawn
Carter is on top of the rap game and there were no signs of him
stepping down any time soon during his career-spanning two-hour
show.
Jay-Z is Sinatra at the
opera.
He says as much on “D.O.A.,” the
lead single from his latest album The Blueprint 3, which was the
third song of his set. Comparing yourself to Sinatra isn’t
something many artists can get away with but the new songs meshed
well with the classic Jay-Z cuts and sounded as smooth as, well,
Sinatra at the opera. Much of Jay’s set consisted of material from
his new record and while it meant some fan favorites didn’t get
stage time it didn’t matter.
Hova expressed ownership of his
new tracks was loud and clear, ranging from set opener “Run This
Town” to show closer “Young Forever” and all points in between
(“Star Is Born,” “Thank You,” “On To The Next One,” “Empire State
of Mind” and “So Ambitious,” sans Pharell even though his band NERD
opened the show, also made the set list). Hearing the new songs
live gave added oomph to some of the songs that seem lackluster on
record.
Jay-Z is the Eighth Wonder
of the World.
Again, this is something Jigga has
previously declared, but he has the swagger and résumé to back up
his claim. Sure the new songs sounded great but it was the classic
Hov everyone wanted to hear and Jay delivered in spades. “99
Problems” was one of the first songs of the set and it sounded more
hard hitting and gritty than it does on record. “Can I Get A…,”
“Dirt Off Your Shoulder,” “Izzo” and “Big Pimpin” all felt like
arena anthems. During “Hard Knock Life” Jay seemingly turned the
capacity crowd at the Key into a ragtag group of singing orphans
while he played the role of their rich Daddy Warbucks flashing his
pearly whites at them from the stage. Continue reading
