Jay-Z closed out his Jay-Z 30 tour this weekend at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, bringing an end to a headlining run that broke Yankee Stadium’s ticket sales record and featured guest appearances from Nas, The-Dream, Rihanna, and Beyoncé. The tour celebrated the 30th anniversary of Jay’s debut album Reasonable Doubt, and kicked off earlier this year with a headlining show at Philadelphia’s Roots Picnic.
On Friday, October 23, he invited Scarface to the stage to rap “This Can’t Be Life” and “Mind Playing Tricks on Me.” Following with prior tour stops, Jay’s daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, accompanied him on piano during “The Story of O.J.” and “Dead Presidents / Dead Presidents II.” After ending his main set with “Public Service Announcement,” he returned to the stage for an encore with two more guests: John Legend and DJ Khaled, who joined him in a performance of their eight-plus-minute song “God Did.”
The second and final night of the tour saw Jay-Z joined by Too $hort for a medley of his well-known “Blow the Whistle Freestyle” and the original 2006 “Blow the Whistle.” But the marquee guest spot of the evening featured Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, both of whom came out to perform a medley of hits including “The Next Episode,” “Still Dre,” “Nuthin But a G Thang,” and of course, “California Love.” Jay also took the opportunity to honor late Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was killed in a 2019 shooting. He projected a black-and-white photo of the artist while playing his song “Hussle & Motivate,“ then incorporated the rapper’s “Last Time That I Checc’d” into a performance of “On to the Next One.”
During the tour closer, Jay-Z also took a moment to address criticism of the tour, specifically around alleged low-priced resale tickets, circulating online. ”Y’all gotta be very aware of what’s going on in the world, right? People will tell you that nobody was in here tonight, but you got eyes, you can see. People will tell you that the music wasn’t great, but you got ears,” he said. “You gotta understand, you gotta question everything in this world of AI.”
Revisit Alphonse Pierre’s concert review In Yankee Stadium, Jay-Z Came Down to Earth.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
