Kendrick Lamar: Compton's Own Performs In New York City At S.O.B.'s

Last night, Compton's own Kendrick Lamar played New York City for the first time specifically at Sounds of Brazil aka S.O.B.'s to a packed house. Did Kendrick live up to his already well known hype? Read the reviews below to find out.

Read the Village Voice concert review HERE

Read XXL concert review HERE

See photos from the show HERE

(video courtesy of Daddy Mac Of New York City)

Lil Wayne I Am Still Music Los Angeles, CA Tour Stop

Lil Wayne I Am Still Music continues to march through the good ol USA. The L.A. stop was delayed by one day because of the L.A. Kings hockey teams' playoff dates. Travis Barker, Rick Ross, Porcelain, Nicki Minaj along with Wayne, all brought their "A" game to the Staples Center on Friday, April 22nd.

L.A. Times concert review:
Live Review: Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj at the Staples Center

Photo links:
Wire Image
Getty Images

"I Am Still Music" tour dates:
Tue 04/26/11 - Sacramento, CA - Power Balance Pavilion
Wed 04/27/11 - Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena
Thu 04/28/11 - Edmonton, AB - Rexall Place
Fri 04/29/11 - Calgary, AB - Scotiabank Saddledome

(video courtesy of jonasfaningoleta, hicksflicks and Rap Up TV)

Travie McCoy Live In London, UK Concert Review

Travis McCoy & Bruno Mars performed at Kings College in London Monday, October 25th.

via Virgin.com

With his debut single ‘Just The Way You Are’ achieving the international number one status, it was no secret that Bruno Mars would be the icing on the cake when it was announced he would support Travie McCoy on his UK tour.



Opening with a well-manufactured rendition of ‘The Other Side’, the singer-songwriter was out to prove he was more than a one trick pony and not just the collaborator that we’ve grown to admire. Performing a number of musical gems including Michael Jackson’s ‘Billy Jean’, Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ (view above) and an alternative remix of B.o.B’s ‘Nothin’ on You’, the American producer left the crowd with an explosion of lyrical fireworks as he serenaded them with “and when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while…”



From the piercing reception Travie McCoy received by just walking onstage, you’d have thought that Take That had announced a comeback with Robbie Williams - oh wait… that did happen. With inhumane frequencies penetrating the four walls of KCLSU, the American rapper kicked the evening off with a surprisingly popular performance of ‘Akidagain’ (view above), before unleashing a powerful performance of ‘Superbad’ where the vocalist sang what seemed to be a personal message on the direction he wants to head in life, “and this is the road of my life; so I’mma have a little fun, ride till I see the sun…”

Taking time out from performing with his band Gym Class Heroes, Travie McCoy made a conscious effort to lock eyes with his London-based followers, showing his appreciation of attending the last night of the UK tour. It was patently obvious that the hip-hop artist was confident and good with words, as he romantically schmoozed the females in the crowd showering them with a thousand compliments; and it worked.

McCoy’s backing band The Lazarus Project (featuring GCH drummer Matt McGinley) teased the crowd to the simple pluck of acoustic guitar that accompanies his summer sensation ‘Billionaire’. If that wasn’t enough, Bruno Mars returned to the stage to sing the euphoric chorus with 500 passionate fans as good-spirits reached an all time high.



It wasn’t all about sunshine and flowers though, as the Gym Class vocalist tore apart at the crowd with his emotionally heartfelt performance of ‘Don’t Pretend’ that contained a taste of bitterness within his lyrics, similar to that of Eminem’s old (and new) material, as he sang “open up my chest and you’ll see; a cold cavity where my heart used to be...”Ploughing through contagious performances of both ‘Need You’ and ‘After Midnight’ (view above) on either side of the encore, McCoy embellished the crowd by taking a trip down memory lane, performing a GCH favourite ‘Cupid’s Chokehold’ and leaving the audience on the verge of a mental breakdown as they celebrated the most monumental and emphatic finish possible.

Photos:
Getty Images

(video courtesy of kbvaghela)

50 Cent San Francisco Concert Review

As reported by Carla Selvin / SF Weekly

50 Cent
@The Warfield
June 3, 2010

Better than: Any sideshow in the Bay Area

Hanging behind the stage at 50 Cent's show last night at the Warfield was a monstrous self-portrait of 50 emerging from a cityscape, with lava pouring out of his mouth and eyes. This apocalyptic stage setup mirrored the testosterone-fueled music that 50 Cent is all about.

But before the scrim was raised, a silhouette of the 34-year-old holding a laser-pointing gun stood center stage for a while, which caused the audience to fall to pieces, screaming.

The hot-rod rapper finally appeared last night in excellent form, smiling from ear to ear. "I have one question for you," 50 asked the exuberant audience: "Where the ladies at?"

50 ran through his massive list of hits slowly over the course of the evening, saving favorites such as "Candy Shop" and "Magic Stick" until the bitter end. This left the audience in screaming shambles.

At one point, the hulking rapper flashed a knowing grin. "I know you all love 50," he said, "but I know you all love 40!" All of a sudden, the Bay Area's own E-40 stepped onstage and busted out a version of "Tell Me When To Go" that probably would've made Mac Dre turn over in his grave. The audience sang along and couldn't have been more enthusiastic.

Later on in his set, 50 showed off another special guest. Too Short sprung out from the curtains and gave a whirlwind performance of his hit "Blow the Whistle" that sent everyone for a loop. Then the Oakland rapper disappeared almost as suddenly as he arrived.

50 Cent changed outfits a handful of times during his set, and each time he came out wearing something new he threw at least one article of clothing into the crowd. In turn, women in the audience started throwing lingerie and brassieres onstage, which 50 put in the back pocket of his jeans.

The shared respect and love between 50 cent and the audience was astounding. To a lot of fans, 50 Cent is a godlike figure, having overcome a rough adolescence on the streets of Queens to become a multimillionaire and celebrity. Some kids in front even brought copies of 50's new self-help book The 50th Law, hoping they could score his signature.

The good vibes in the Warfield last night were infectious, with star-struck fans singing along to every word coming out of the rapper's mouth. But it was clear to everyone who was having the most fun -- 50 himself.

Photo links:
Getty Images
Film Magic

50 Cent The Invitation Tour dates:

6/6 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Pearl Concert Theater at The Palms
6/7 – Phoenix, AZ @ Celebrity Theater
6/10 – Kansas City, KS @ Midland Theatre
6/11 – Dallas, TX @ Music Hall at Fair Park
6/12 – Houston, TX @ Arena Theater
6/15 – Miami, FL @ The Fillmore
6/17 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
6/18 – Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues
6/22 – New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom
6/23 – Wallingford, CT @ Chevrolet Theater
6/24 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues
6/25 – Atlantic City, NJ @ House of Blues

Lloyd Banks Live At The Nokia Theatre In NYC Concert Review

As reported by Jon Caramanica / The New York Times

In 45 minutes of almost nonstop bluster at the Nokia Theater on Thursday night (April 29), Lloyd Banks squeezed in one minute for another mode of persuasion: humility.

In the last three months, he’s returned from being a curio, a relic of the 50 Cent era of the mid-2000s, to a bona fide phenomenon, an unlikely twist attributable to “Beamer, Benz or Bentley,” one of the breakout rap hits of the year. But given that Mr. Banks hasn’t had one of those in a few years, he knows better than to take it for granted.

“I am completely independent at this point,” he said early in his set, painting himself as an underdog. Mr. Banks is the main protégé of 50 Cent, the Queens rap star who’s lately been in decline. But last year he announced that he was no longer signed to Interscope Records, which distributes 50 Cent’s G-Unit Records imprint, though he remains attached to the G-Unit label.

Especially in hip-hop, the role of the major label is decreasingly relevant, but for a rapper like Mr. Banks, accustomed to the old ways of success, reclaiming an up-by-his-bootstraps narrative must be alternately frustrating and invigorating.



On Thursday he stuck with invigorated, muscling his way through old hits — “Warrior,” “Straight Outta Southside,” “On Fire” — and a few listless old nonhits, his voice as molasses-thick as ever. At one point he swapped his Hermès sneakers for a pair of black work boots: “These joints cost about $1,300, but they slippery,” he joked.

“Beamer, Benz or Bentley” is classic Banks, a fusillade of dense, braggadocian internal rhymes: “Beat it, I bet she’d let me/She been fiending since she met me”; and “Press a button and I’m stunting, my roof look like it’s ducking/ Meter go 200-something and my trunk do wonders bumping.”

In other words, Mr. Banks is a brainy and boastful rapper, which leads to some stratification in his audience, some there for the attitude, and some for the intricate punch lines. That might explain, in part, the rest of Thursday’s scattershot bill: Jackie Chain, Cory Gunz and Reflection Eternal, three acts with no overlap point in their collective Venn diagram.

Best was Jackie Chain, a half-white, half-Korean rapper from Huntsville, Ala., but who received the night’s most hostile reception. What he might lack in lyrical acuity, though, he makes up for in personality: songs like “Mack a Bitch” and “Rollin’ ” are anthems waiting for audiences to recognize them.

Cory Gunz, newly signed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money Records, wasn’t booed or greeted with middle fingers by the crowd, but his quick, nimble rhymes were largely charmless.





Most vexing was Reflection Eternal, the reliable social-progressive duo of Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek, who five years ago probably would not have guessed that they’d be on a bill opening for Mr. Banks. Their set — longer than Mr. Banks’s — felt like largely thankless work, the verses about Liberia and health care falling on uninterested ears. Older, more chipper songs — “Definition,” “Get By” — fared better, but not by enough to sandpaper down the dissonance.



By the time Mr. Banks finally got around to “Beamer, Benz or Bentley” at the end of his set, several dozen associates had joined him onstage. While they’d been enthusiastic up until that point, when the first peal of that song’s beat (produced by the comer Prime) dropped, they turned ecstatic.

Mr. Banks wasn’t even at his most electric, but it didn’t matter: the room carried him. There was no Juelz Santana, whose manic verse is crucial to the song’s success. No last-minute surprise appearance by the bossman 50 Cent. Just Mr. Banks, his muddled voice, that sinister beat and 10 tensed fingers, gripping tightly to the ladder so as not to fall back down.

Photo links:
Wire Image

more video below.



(video courtesy of hostile163, marcusavila, this is 50 & 1m3folife)

Lupe Fiasco And B.o.B. Live At Denver's Ogden Theatre Concert Reviews, Video & Photos

As reported by Greg Stieber at the Denver Post

As the house and stage lights went dim at the Ogden Theatre last night (Thursday, April 29), the crowd was in a frenzied state of anticipation. Opener B.o.B. had concluded his blazing set a few moments earlier, performing like a headliner as he engaged the crowd, joked around and even invited one woman on stage for a serenade.

The bar was set high — and Chicago-bred emcee Lupe Fiasco did not disappoint. As the crowd chanted “Lupe!” — which was a mainstay of the evening — Fiasco bounded onto stage and opened with the song “Shining Down” from upcoming album “Lasers.” The crowd erupted with cheers as a set of strobe lights silhouetted Fiasco’s movements.

With the release date of “Lasers” continually being pushed back, the crowd was anxious to get a sneak peak at his new material. Fiasco was in good spirits as his set continued to roll like a freight train, though he had to catch his breath momentarily between songs as the altitude was making him sleepy. His confessions of sleepiness came as a surprise as he bounced all over the stage the entire night. Fiasco’s showmanship and general appreciation for the Denver crowd were also evident when he thanked them for getting the venue sold out three weeks in advance.

Fiasco appeared cool and confident on stage as this tour represents what could be a turning point in his career. The upcoming release of “Lasers” has the potential to vault Fiasco into legitimate hip-hop stardom. Judging from the three to four songs he played from that album, it sounds like a winner.



Fiasco drew heavily from his album “The Cool” for the remainder of the set, including the songs “Go Go Gadget Flow,” “Hip-Hop Saved My Life” and “Paris, Tokyo.” He also squeezed in the skateboarder’s anthem “Kick Push,” and, after a brief break for his band, closed out the evening with the song “Super Star.” After seeing Fiasco perform, there is not a better word to describe him.



Concert review #2 reported by Quibian Salazar-Moreno / Boulder Weekly

The Laser Tour Denver show sold out about three weeks ago. With a tour that features B.o.B. who has the No. 1 hit in the country with “Nothin’ On You,” and headliner Lupe Fiasco who has two superb albums under his belt, the question comes to mind, who really sold out this show? Regardless if you came to see either B.o.B. (aka Bobby Ray) or Lupe, you were in for a surprisingly magnificent and energetic live show from both.

Bobby Ray was backed by a band and was effortlessly singing, rapping, and plucking away on his acoustic guitar. He’s a natural performer weaving in and out of songs from his debut album, The Adventures of Bobby Ray, like “Don’t Let Me Fall,” and “Lovelier Than You” to his mixtape classics like “I’ll Be in the Sky,” and “Generation Lost.” How was Lupe going to be able to follow this? Like any up and coming rap superstar, Bobby Ray ended his set with his hit “Nothin’ On You” and a hype jam session with his band. Those that thought B.o.B. was just his hit song had their eyes opened wide.

Lupe Fiasco took the stage after a short intermission with his own band along with a band member behind a couple of laptops running what looked the electronic portion of the show. He commanded the stage from the outset running through fans favorites like “Hip-Hop Saved My Life,” “Kick, Push,” and “Superstar.” Although Lupe’s new album, Lasers, isn’t due out until later this year, he was happy to share a plethora of new tracks including his new single, “I’m Beamin’,” for which the video just hit the interwebs this week. He kept it light throughout the entire set, performing more of the crowd-friendly tracks as opposed to deep-thinking songs like “Dumb It Down” or “American Terrorist.” But for those who wondered if a lyricist like Lupe could truly rock a show, he definitely proved he could.

Photo link:
Boulder Weekly - Picasa

Lupe Fiasco Steppin Laser Tour dates:
Sat 05/01 - Las Vegas, NV - House Of Blues
Sun 05/02 - West Hollywood, CA - House Of Blues
Tue 05/04 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre
Wed 05/05 - San Francisco, CA - Regency Center
Thu 05/06 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
Fri 05/07 - Seattle, WA - Showbox SoDo
Sat 05/08 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater

More fan shot video below.







(video courtesy of KrayDoesTheTube, Emoney & a2mNT)

Gorillaz With Mos Def Live In London, UK + Concert Review, Video, Photos and Set List

via NME

Gorillaz made their live return to the UK (Thursday, April 29), joined onstage in London by a host of guests from across their three albums.

Despite the global nature of their collaborations, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett were able to recruit the likes of Bobby Womack, De La Soul, Shaun Ryder and Super Furry Animals' Gruff Rhys to Camden's Roundhouse.

Taking to the stage to the intro to this year's 'Plastic Beach', accompanied by a series of Jamie Hewlett's visuals, which paced the whole show, the Gorillaz band - including The Clash's Mick Jones & Paul Simonon, both sporting sailors hats, on guitar and bass - were joined by strings (also in nautical attire) and backing singers as they kicked off with 'Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach', with Snoop Dogg's rap delivered via a specially commissioned video.

Albarn, who began the gig on keyboards, then took centre stage, leading vocals on the 'Demon Days' track 'Last Living Souls', before returning to the back of the stage for 'O Green World' and then taking up a guitar for 'On Melancholy Hill'.



The collective then introduced their first guests of the night, as Mos Def and Womack took to the stage to loud applause for 'Stylo'.

Afterwards, Albarn was back throwing himself about for 'Rhinestone Eyes', then after chilling out on 'Broken', he was then joined by Little Dragon's Yukimi Nagano for 'Empire Ants'.

Bootie Brown then made an appearance rapping on 'Dirty Harry', before the Syrian National Orchestra were brought out for 'White Flag' with Kano and Bashy supplying vocals after an extended intro.

De La Soul then made their first appearance of the night, sharing the stage with Gruff Rhys for 'Superfast Jellyfish', they were followed by Shaun Ryder and the 'real life' Noodle, singer Rosie Wilson for a crowd pleasing version of 'Dare'.

'Glitter Freeze' was performed next without The Fall's Mark E Smith - though he is expected for the gig at the same venue tomorrow - while after 'El Mañana', soul legend Womack returned for a moving rendition of 'Cloud Of Unknowning', which he ended by thanking the crowd, the first person to speak during the gig.

Briefly leaving the stage, Gorillaz returned with Mos Def kicking of the encore on a pounding version of 'Sweepstakes'.



Little Dragon's Nagano was then back to duet with Albarn on 'To Binge', while De La Soul were out in force for a riotous version of 'Feel Good Inc'.

The group then rounded the show off with a bass heavy version of first album track and former single 'Clint Eastwood', waving to the crowd as they left the stage after the song's climax.

Gorillaz played:

'Orchestra Intro'
'Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach'
'Last Living Souls'
'O Green World'
'On Melancholy Hill'
'Kids With Guns'
'Stylo'
'Rhinestone Eyes'
'Broken'
'Empire Ants'
'Dirty Harry'
'White Flag'
'Superfast Jellyfish'
'Dare'
'Glitter Freeze'
'El Mañana'
'Cloud Of Unknowing'
'Sweepstakes'
'To Binge'
'Feel Good Inc'
'Clint Eastwood'

Photo links:
Wire Image
Rex Features

(video courtesy of alistairburns)

Mos Def Live At Shepherd's Bush Empire In London, UK Concert Review

As reviewed by Jasmine Phull at Skiddle.com from Thursday night's April 15 show At Shepherd's Bush Empire London, UK.

Amidst a decadent display of red and white roses and under a flood of moody red lighting, the lyrical genius introduced himself. "My name is Yasin Dante Terrell Smith-Bey, known to many across the world as Mos Def".

It was a formal introduction that began an hour-long blaze of songs from the rapper’s newest work The Ecstatic, all the while punctuated with tunes from his earlier albums.

Donning thin braces, a cap and a fully grown beard the ‘Boogyman’ gripped an old school microphone before kicking it off with Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious-like ‘Supermagic’, laced with a winding guitar and rock ‘n roll inflexions.



With swagger and presence the hip-hop flavoured stylings continued with the Madlib-produced ‘Auditorium’, ‘Priority’ and ‘Life in Marvelous Times’. It was a show fuelled by heavy funk, hooks and samples. ‘Quiet Dog’ saw Mos Def manning a massive drum-kit; bashing out a rapturous rhythm while simultaneously rapping. It was an example of his unorthodox approach to hip hop yet left some a little bored and less than bemused.

A unanimous sea of head-nods was in full swing when classics including beat-laden ‘Mathematics’ and song ‘Hip Hop’ - with its lyrical prowess: "Speech is my hammer, bang the world into shape" - took centre stage.

Those that came to hear Mos Def circa ‘99's ‘Black on Both Sides’ were finally in their element. The veteran mused about opening a ‘24-hour karate school’ before dropping a new tune of the same name. The audience instantly took to the ravenous rhythm, excited at the prospect of an impending fifth album.

Through charm, humour and a sage-like approach, the sometime thespian, well known for his recent role in Michel Gondry’s film Be Kind Rewind, proved to be a garrulous and gracious host. "You could have been anywhere in the world, but you’re here with us".

Not one to shy away from gratitude he constantly thanked the crowd for their presence: "Thank you for spending your money and most importantly time". Yet on occasions it became gratuitous, lessening his resonance as the Mighty Mos Def; hip hop extraordinaire.

Joined only by a trusty duo of DJs, the Brooklyn MC would have better benefited from an accompanying live band; at times the stage seemed bare and his charismatic performance and surprisingly great vocal range struggled to rescue the stage from a slight lacklustre.

For someone who in the past revelled as a witty wordsmith, it seems the beat maverick has become more about the percussion - his vocals taking a back-seat. The Ecstatic showcases his trademark experimental vision in which the MC acts as an accompaniment rather than a hedonistic front-man. Mos Def has managed to champion and revitalise the rap game while maintaining artistic respect for the culture that made him who he is today; a hip-hop ambassador.

more fan shot video below.







(video courtesy of Ela1994SI & Moodkid)

Alicia Keys Live In Oakland, CA Concert Review

As reported by Jim Harrington / Oakland Tribune

Alicia Keys first wanted us to know that she's a survivor.

The 29-year-old singer-songwriter-pianist opened her concert Saturday night (April 10) at the Oracle Arena with a recorded message. She spoke with passion to the packed house in Oakland about all the naysayers who once said she'd never make it in show business. The unspoken moral to the story, we were left to assume, is that good things happen to people who don't give up on themselves.

The underdog role was an odd choice for Keys. This lovely, multitalented musician had a record contract before she was 20. Were we really supposed to believe she faced the same odds on her road to success as this article does for a Pulitzer Prize? If anything, the opposite seems to be true — when she made her debut in 2001, with the eventual Grammy-winning "Songs in A Minor," Keys seemed destined for stardom.

Still, she continued to beat the drum of the downtrodden when she finally made her entrance in Oakland. The R&B/soul singer appeared in a cage, one she finally freed herself from by bending back a bar and slithering out the opening. The star then hustled through some "Thriller"-style moves, accompanied by three other dancers, while her nine-piece band pumped up "Love is Blind."

Sure, that opening segment tied directly into the trek's title, "The Freedom Tour," which takes its name from Keys' fourth platinum studio affair, last year's "The Element of Freedom." Yet it was also a garish, over-the-top start, one that concertgoers might expect to see from such drama queens as Britney Spears, Madonna and Sarah Brightman.

Now on her fourth concert tour, Keys still hasn't found a way to make big production numbers work for her.

Fortunately, just about everything else does.

Keys is at her best when she's not operating in a Beyonce-like swirl of dancers, video segments and flashing lights. Thanks to her substantial musical chops, she doesn't need any of that stuff. All she has to do is sit at the piano and sing from the heart.

She did that on several occasions during the show, but not enough.

Four songs into the set, Keys, who now sports a tightly curled hairdo, hit her first home run of the night as she moved to the keyboard and belted out the tear-jerker ballad "Fallin'." She didn't fare so well with the next number, "Another Way to Die," which found her matching modest jazz vocal scats with cliche-rich riffs by the lead guitarist.

That was followed by a stiff dance routine and some military-themed costumes, both of which appeared to have been borrowed from Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation" world tour. Keys seemed horribly out of place in this commotion, but she found her spot when she sat down at the grand piano and coaxed out a precious solo version of "Pray for Forgiveness."

That's basically how it went all night. She faltered in her attempts to goose the up-tempo numbers with plenty of eye candy, only to succeed as few others can by conjuring up more intimate moments.

The one exception came during the encore, as Keys managed to mix the best of both worlds in a high-concept take on "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down" that was rich with emotion and feeling.

Not to be a naysayer, but here's hoping Keys won't let that one bit of success guide her thinking when she's putting together her next tour.

Photo links:
Oakland Tribune
Wire Image

Alicia Keys 2010 Element of Freedom Tour Dates:

4/29 - Lisbon, Portugal - Pavilhao Atlantico
5/1 - Ischgl, Austria - Ski Resort
5/2 - Verona, Italy - Arena
5/4 - Marseille, France - Le Dome
5/7 - Berlin, Germany - O2 Arena
5/8 - Arnhem, Netherlands - Gelredome
5/9 - Frankfurt, Germany - Festhalle - Messe Frankfurt
5/12 - Hamburg, Germany - Color Line Arena
5/13 - Oberhausen, Germany - Konig - Pilsener Arena
5/15 - Merksem, Belgium - Sportpaleis Antwerpen
5/17 - Zurich, Switzerland - Hallenstadion Zurich
5/19 - Birmingham, UK - The NIA
5/21 - Dublin, Ireland - The O2 Dublin
5/23 - Glasgow, UK - S.E.C.C.
5/25 - London, UK - The O2 - London
5/26 - London, UK - The O2 - London
5/29 - Manchester, UK - Manchester Evening News Arena
5/31 - Paris, France - Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy
6/2 - Barcelona, Spain - Palau Sant Jordi
6/4 - Lyon, France - Halle Tony Garnier

(video courtesy of DeanOSupremo32)

Paid Dues 2010 Festival Concert Review

Concert review & photo courtesy of Crave

The fifth annual Paid Dues Festival, an independent gathering made by and for the true lovers of deep-roots Hip-Hop, descended on the NOS events center in San Bernardino on Saturday (April 3) to celebrate the craft with a few thousand true fans.

The day featured less star power than in previous years, but West Coast gangsta rap pioneer Ice Cube, his cousin Del Tha Funky Homosapien, Wu chef Raekwon, festival mastermind & rap guru Murs and producer 9th Wonder, Jay Electronica and Tha Dogg Pound all brought significant fire, as well as Freestyle Fellowship, Dilated Peoples, Sean Price and more.

MC Prototype opened the day's events before most attendees had even arrived. His audience was small, but the Pomona MC tore up his 15-minute set with arena enthusiasm.





On the main Paid Dues stage, Tha Dogg Pound turned out a solid performance, with Rasco making a guest appearance. Kurupt had a particularly animated presence, likely due to the upcoming April 20 release of his new album, Street Lights.



Tech N9ne arrived with proverbial guns blazing, tearing through a bombastic career-spanning set and reminding the crowd more than a few times that he's the most successful independent rap artist in the game.

Stage partner Kris Kalico's rich, soulful R&B singing voice is more than a secret weapon to Tech - it's the balancing impression for his machine-gun vocal assault and out-there antics in face paint. Kutt Calhoun, by contrast, filled the color spots and rounded out the trio.The crowd caught fire as the chemistry was on full display for show-highlight "Ghetto Love".



Rising star Jay Electronica made his presence known with a no-frills set heavy on lyrical prowess and the confident promise that he's bound to carry the torch of today's greats and move up the headliner ranks in the years to come.



Raekwon delivered hard & heavy to a packed house, a thick mass of weed smoke hovering in the air.

Hands were raised in giant "W"s as the Chef ran through a catalogue-spanning set of Wu tracks and solo highlights.



Festival godfather Murs, whose new album with 9th Wonder will be sold at the festival ahead of its April 13 release date, brought the feel-good set that came and went in the blink of an eye.

Sick Jacken stepped up to trade verses with the pioneering MC, giving a little Psycho Realm encore to festivalgoers.



Ice Cube hit the stage around 10:30 and unleashed a venomous torrent of energy throughout a finely-crafted set that his crowd favorites, deep cuts and brand new tracks. He debuted the first single, "I Rep The West", for the first time anywhere, making point to address the controversy regarding his recent inflammatory comments over Los Angeles newcomers.

“There’s been a gang of motherf*ckers talking sh*t about your boy Ice Cube,” he told fans from the stage. “I love love for all the young emcees in the house right now. But…….you can’t diss Dr. Dre. You can’t diss Eazy-E. You can’t diss Ice-T. You can’t diss King Tee. No, you cannot diss Ice Cube. No, I ain’t going for it. And any of you young motherf*ckers that do want to diss, I got one thing to say before you do it. You better check yourself before you wreck yourself.”



Cube's cousin Del Tha Funky Homosapien took a wildly different approach on the Dues Paid stage, dancing through a buoyant list of hits with positive spirit and nothing but smiles.



Freestyle Fellowship shared the positive-vibe energy that returned and fueled the outdoor stage once Necro finished trying to scare people with his meth-lab badass act and the sun went down.

The Los Angeles Hip-Hop collective had a casual approach to the stage, but were received like gods among the crowd.

Respect is due by default for both Murs and Guerilla Union. Their contributions to hip-hop and relentless work to preserve the culture that appreciates and cultivates it, enables voices to get heard and gives kids some badly-needed exposure to elements outside the mainstream commercial machine. All the same, it seems the festival badly needs a better venue and more even-handed promotional approach to succeed. With an oddly-chosen 40,000 capacity venue, the few thousand in attendance gave an air of sparsity to the occasion.

Nevertheless, the Paid Dues festival remains one of the greatest showcases of Hip-Hop in its truest form, representing both the indie, the underground and the heavyweights in the game. Here's to another five years.

More video below.



(video courtesy of riotcity908, GGBmusic1, livebythomasv, NHEIB84, BeeMyRobot94 & INFUMUS)

Jay-Z: Las Vegas The Pearl At The Palms BP3 Close Out Concert Review

Jay-Z Las Vegas, NV The Pearl At The Palms concert closes out the 2nd leg of the BP3 Tour.

As reported by Jason Bracelin / Las Vegas Review-Journal

He fancies himself hip-hop's pre-eminent huckster, three-card monte personified, a used car salesman with beats instead of beaters.

"I sell ice in the winter, I sell fire in hell," Jay-Z informed a sold-out Pearl at the Palms on Saturday night (Saturday, March 27). "I am a hustler, baby, I'll sell water to a well."

The song was "U Don't Know," a shout-along banger with shotgun-blast percussion where the emcee in question testifies to his marketing prowess, which lies somewhere between the calculating number crunching of a one-man ad agency and the smooth-talking savvy of a street urchin with a bunch of gold watches for sale inside his trenchcoat.

"Put me anywhere of God's green Earth, I'll triple my worth," he announced matter-of-factly, with little aplomb.

"I. Will. Not. Lose," he continued, each utterance doubling as its own declarative sentence.

And true to his words, Jay-Z is a master salesman, saving his best work for his toughest charge: himself.

Hip-hop, like professional sports, is an unforgiving vocation: Rhymers age like dogs, one year may as well be seven.

Just look at 50 Cent's shelf-life: Dairy products tend to last longer. It's the rare rapper who can continually reinvent himself and even unimpeachable greats like Nas, the Wu-Tang Clan, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and dozens of others eventually seem to lose a measure of their vitality, not to mention their commercial luster.

In rock 'n' roll, nostalgia is often embraced and celebrated, as cherished as some ragged old concert T-shirt that reminds its wearers of their youth.

But in hip-hop, the past is mostly significant only as a prelude to the present. You don't see pioneering veteran acts such as Run-DMC or Public Enemy still packing arenas the way that, say, even the Journeys of the world do.

And this is one of hip-hop's best attributes and greatest strengths.

Nevertheless, Jay-Z's been consistently topping the charts for almost 15 years now, throwing off rap's evolutionary bell curve like maybe only Tupac Shakur or Biggie Smalls might have done had they lived long enough to attempt as much.

He's done it all by never putting on any airs about himself as he's gone from small-scale drug dealer –– at least that's how he tells it –– to big-time record seller and entrepreneur with his own clothing line and sneaker endorsements.

For a lot of rappers, "keeping it real" means continually revisiting the street-level exploits that form the preface to many of their careers.

For Jay-Z, it just means being forthcoming about where he's at in his life at a given moment, and so he doesn't try to relate to his audience so much as give them a behind-the-curtains peek at his own celebrity.

Hence, his latter-day catalog is a bit like the "Robb Report" set to a beat.

"If you grew up with holes in your zapatos, you'd celebrate the minute you was having dough," he explained during the chest-pounding bravado of "99 Problems," a line that encapsulates much of Jay-Z's recent repertoire.

That song segued into "Show Me What You Got," a pop trifle that was the inverse of the tune that preceded it, with images of yachts and girls in bikinis flashing across the video screens at the back of the stage.

It's this balance of grit and glamour, skewed to the latter nowadays, that forms the basis of Jay-Z's appeal.

On the mic, he's an incredible technician, swinging between a cool nonchalance and an overheated spray of boasts.

"I'm so far ahead of my time, I'm 'bout to start another life. Look behind you, I'm 'bout to pass you twice," he rhymed acapella during "Hovi Baby," his 10-piece backing group momentarily silenced as his words packed just as much thunder as his band's substantial percussive might.

A cool, cocksure presence, Jay-Z donned a smile as wide as his vocabulary through it all, commanding the stage with a loose-shouldered, easygoing gait, bouncing on the back of his heels the way some prizefighters do just before springing into action.

He fired off his songs one right after the other with barely a pause. Perhaps the show's only dull moment over close to two hours was when Jay-Z ceded the stage for a brief interlude by run-of-the-mill gangsta Young Jeezy, who possesses abundant energy, but little else.

And then the man of the night ambled back on stage.

This was the last stop of his "Blueprint 3 Tour," and he ended his set by drinking champagne with his tourmates and pointing out crowd members individually by what they were wearing and thanking them for showing up.

A multimillionaire superstar, Jay-Z's no longer a man of the people, but for a night at least, he seemed happy enough to be among them. He took off his shades, doffed his hat, and stopped selling himself just long enough to be himself.

Show photo links:
Corbis Images
Wire Image

After party photo links:
Wire Image - Jay-Z
Wire Image - Trey Songz

Jay-Z concert appearances are as follows:

Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival appearance.
Apr 16 Indio, CA - Empire Polo Club

Jay-Z European Tour Dates:

Jun 4 Rock am Ring, Germany
Jun 5 Rock im Park, Germany
Jun 6 Paris Bercy, France
Jun 7 Manchester, UK - Manchester Evening News Arena
Jun 9 Birmingham, UK - LG Arena
Jun 11 Isle of Wright, UK - Seaclose Park
Jul 2 Eurockeennes Belfort, France
Jul 4 London, UK - Hyde Park - Wireless Festival
Jul 9 Oxygen, Ireland
Jul 10 Frauenfeld, Switzerland - Openair Frauenfeld
Jul 11 T in the Park, Scotland

Jay-Z BP3 Staples Center Los Angeles, CA Concert Review

As reported by Jeff Weiss / Los Angeles Times

During the recording of “The Blueprint 3,” Jay-Z’s latest chart-topping full-length, the Brooklyn-born rapper gleaned something from frequent collaborator Kanye West: how to transform album tracks into arena-sized epics. In front of a sold-out Staples Center crowd on Friday night (Friday, March 26) and backed by a 10-piece-band -- a three-member horn section, two guitarists, keyboardists and two drummers, along with backup emcee Memphis Bleek – the lyricist born Shawn Carter proved he could deliver a similar punch in a live setting. Drawing maximum response from the audience, he playfully asked them to throw their diamonds in the sky and repeatedly thanked them for their support. He even sang “Happy Birthday” to a fan holding a “Birthday Girl” sign.

Jay-Z, the hustler turned rapper turned brand name as big as the borough itself, owned the sold-out Staples Center. “This is Sinatra at the opera, bring a blond,” he rapped on “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune).” And if the spectacle wasn’t exactly Wagner’s “Ring Cycle,” at times it felt like an egalitarian equivalent. A wide demographic mix of the infamously fractionalized Los Angeles was drawn to the 40-year-old rapper who has almost single-handedly spawned the genre “classic rap.”

Many arrived dressed for a Friday night, as though they were gunning for a cameo on “Entourage.” Models clutching Gucci handbags stood among tabloid fodder, Chris Rock, Christina Aguilera, actors in Affliction tees tailed by Barbie blonds and B-boys in baggy pants. A duo donned outfits honoring the 15th anniversary of N.W.A. founder Eazy-E’s death (Compton caps and Eazy T-shirts) -- a milestone Jay-Z neglected to mention when he shouted out, “R.I.P. 2Pac, the Notorious B.I.G., Big Pun, Big L and Pimp C,” following an electrifying a capella denouement to “Big Pimpin’.”

“I can sell ice in the winter, I can sell fire in hell. I’m a hustler.”

Although he has boasted of his entrepreneurial beginnings on the street earning seed money by “flipping a record company from a half a [kilo],” Jay-Z’s renegade independent days are in the past. “I used to duck shots/but now I eat quail/I’ll probably never see jail,” he raps on "Real as It Gets." He’s the mega-star who two years ago inked a reported $150-million partnership with Live Nation Entertainment to advance his Jay-Z brand.

It’s a business that strives to be as ubiquitous as Coca-Cola or Nike. Before the show, big screens solicited the audience to “text BP3” and join the “Jay-Z movement.” Outside along L.A. Live's shrill fluorescent walkways, people signed up to win merchandise made by one of his companies, Roc Nation.

Dovetailing with his corporate successes as the former chief executive of Def Jam Recordings is Jay-Z’s consummate professionalism. One can scoff at the disconnect between his hood tales and his current stature, but there’s no denying his style, or his hits, as impressive a body of work as any rapper ever. From “Ain’t No” to “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem),” “I Just Wanna’ Love U (Give it 2 Me)” to “Empire State of Mind,” Jay-Z can fill a two-hour set with a keen, razor-sharp lyrical catalog memorized by 20,000 people. And that’s what he did, with his band teasing out the arrangements out to fulfill Carter’s orchestral, “Avatar” sized aspirations.

“I’m on to the Next One.”

Friday’s show presented the latest incarnation of Jay-Z. If his recent work hasn’t been as critically or commercially successful as his early output, it has been his grandest in scope. Other rappers have played Staples, but none with Jay-Z’s worldwide stature. Many have achieved mass appeal, but none have sustained it as long. He eggs the adoring crowd on, “I have 11 No. 1 albums.” But everyone already knows this, which is why they forked over half-a-week’s paycheck for tickets.

His only real misstep of the night was ceding the stage to Young Jeezy for a 30-minute interlude. The Atlanta emcee gamely attempted to fill the void, but in the process illustrated how difficult it is to command such a large crowd. Thankfully, a brief Ice Cube cameo to perform “Check Yo’ Self” appeased the restless.

“I’m from where the hammer’s rung, where the news cameras never come…where the grams is slung.”

The evening’s most poignant moment, a rare respite from the avalanche of explosive lights and flashing LED screens, arrived when Jay-Z delved into his back catalog, performing “Can I Live” and “Where I’m From.” The two tracks served as a reminder that despite his evolution, here was the same Jay-Z who won over first the doubters and then the masses since the summer of ’96. But as great as the original version was, it never could have sold out the Staples Center, or validated the words of “Encore,” the final song of the night, with the line, “I came, I saw, I conquered, from record sales, to sold out concerts.”

Photo links:
Getty Images
Wire Image

more fan shot footage below.











(video courtesy of Rap-Up, thehand99. & ZayNova)

Jay-Z's BP3 2010 Tour dates:

Mar 27 Las Vegas, NV - The Pearl

Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival appearance:
Apr 16 Indio, CA - Empire Polo Club

Jay-Z European Tour Dates:

Jun 4 Rock am Ring, Germany
Jun 5 Rock im Park, Germany
Jun 6 Paris Bercy, France
Jun 7 Manchester, UK - Manchester Evening News Arena
Jun 9 Birmingham, UK - LG Arena
Jun 11 Isle of Wright, UK - Seaclose Park
Jul 2 Eurockeennes Belfort, France
Jul 4 London, UK - Hyde Park - Wireless Festival
Jul 9 Oxygen, Ireland
Jul 10 Frauenfeld, Switzerland - Openair Frauenfeld
Jul 11 T in the Park, Scotland

Jay-Z BP3 San Jose, CA At HP Pavilion Concert Review

As reported by Jim Harrington / San Jose Mercury News

One song into his set Wednesday night (March 24), Jay-Z was already flashing that killer smile.

"I like how this is going," he beamed to the capacity crowd at HP Pavilion in San Jose. "We're going to take this all the way to the top." And he proceeded to do just that, moving from the solid opener "Run This Town" to the even-better "On to the Next One," both of which hail from last year's album "The Blueprint 3."

As for getting to the top, let's just say Jay-Z has been there so many times it's probably where he gets his mail delivered.

With each passing year, Jay-Z gives us new reasons to call him king. He's sold some 40 million records worldwide, won 10 Grammy Awards and is part owner of the New Jersey Nets (hey, some day that might seem like a good idea). He owns the popular clothing line Rocawear, is worth a half-billion dollars and is married to Beyonce, one of the world's most popular and beautiful entertainers.

"The Blueprint 3" became his 11th No. 1 album, setting a record for most chart-topping platters for a solo artist (topping the King of Rock, Elvis Presley).

One thing he's never been able to claim, however, is the distinction of being a consistently great concert artist. Bay Area fans have seen Jay-Z turn in many mediocre performances over the years, but he was downright brilliant during his previous local visit, a co-headlining tour with Mary J. Blige at Oracle Arena roughly two years ago.

Jay-Z wasn't nearly as focused or as entertaining on Wednesday, but still turned in a pretty enjoyable show.

Following a set by overrated R&B crooner Trey Songz, Jay-Z cut a dramatic entrance as he was lifted by a platform through the stage floor. As his 10-member band, complete with a three-piece horn section, snapped into action, Jay-Z started dropping the difficult tongue-twisters everyone in the house seemed to know by heart.

He performed in front of a sleek, uncluttered stage design, which consisted mainly of a video backdrop cut to look like the Manhattan skyline. The live band paid big dividends early and often, propelling the beats with two percussionists and flexing its horn-section muscle on "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)." Jay-Z's marginally talented sidekick Memphis Bleek — aka,"the Ringo Starr of rap" — joined him on vocals on several numbers, including crowd favorites "U Don't Know" and "99 Problems."



Right as things were rolling along smashingly, Young Jeezy arrived, a la Jay-Z, riding the elevator up through the stage floor. That was really an amazing feat of hydraulics, given the amount of heavy metal Jeezy wore around his neck. The headliner then departed to let Jeezy do his own set.

Talk about throwing a monkey wrench into the gears — going from Jay-Z's incomparable flow to Jeezy's rough ride is, to say the least, jolting. Jeezy used part of his time to tell us how important it is to proudly represent our hometowns. "I put on for my city," sang the Georgia rapper wearing a Chicago White Sox hat.

Jay-Z returned to perform a few really meaty tunes, including "My President is Black" and "Dirt Off Your Shoulder," then announced that the main set was done. The problem was, Jay-Z himself had only been onstage for about an hour. He then sent the show into what he dubbed "overtime" and performed another half-hour of music, none of which was memorable. He clearly had no game plan drawn up for OT.

Still, Jay-Z can get away with a lot simply through his charisma. Plus, it doesn't hurt when the crowd fawns at your every move.

It must be good to be king.

Photos:
Getty Images
Corbis Images
San Jose Mercury News - Jay-Z BP3 San Jose Concert
Bay Area's Movin 997 radio station set 1
Bay Area's Movin 997 radio station set 2

more fan shot footage below.





(video courtesy of kode701 & Notoriousted)

Jay-Z's BP3 2010 Tour dates:

Mar 26 Los Angeles, CA - Staples Center
Mar 27 Las Vegas, NV - The Pearl

Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival appearance:
Apr 16 Indio, CA - Empire Polo Club

Jay-Z European Tour Dates:

Jun 4 Rock am Ring, Germany
Jun 5 Rock im Park, Germany
Jun 6 Paris Bercy, France
Jun 7 Manchester, UK - Manchester Evening News Arena
Jun 9 Birmingham, UK - LG Arena
Jun 11 Isle of Wright, UK - Seaclose Park
Jul 2 Eurockeennes Belfort, France
Jul 4 London, UK - Hyde Park - Wireless Festival
Jul 9 Oxygen, Ireland
Jul 10 Frauenfeld, Switzerland - Openair Frauenfeld
Jul 11 T in the Park, Scotland

50 Cent Dublin, Ireland Concert Review, Earns Undisclosed Amount At After Show Party

As reported by John Meagher / Irish Independent

50 Cent at the 02 Arena in Dublin, Ireland Sunday, March 21.

His songs may glorify violence and his heavily tattooed physique would put the fear into any sensible being, but 50 Cent can be incredibly charming.

On two separate occasions the New York rapper, actor and business tycoon invites on stage young boys he picks out of the audience. His sweet discussions with them and his encouragement of their hip-hop moves would win top marks from any parental guide.

And throughout the show, Fiddy -- or Curtis Jackson, as he's known to his mother -- beams beatifically, displaying a set of perfect American teeth. For someone who has been shot nine times, he looks in remarkably fine health.

There is no doubting his charisma, or his ability to rap, yet the 50 Cent live experience leaves much to be desired.

His band favour a brute force approach, shunning the more nuanced, rich sound of his records while regular G Unit cohorts Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks tend to be more miss than hit, particularly in the 'intervals' when they have to carry the show while the main man is backstage changing into yet another T-shirt.

The pair are especially lame when leading the crowd into a polemic of sorts, 'Smoke Weed'. But they don't literally smoke the drug -- as they did in a recent Amsterdam gig.

Much of the show is spent regurgitating material on Fiddy's most recent and weakest album, 'Before I Self Destruct', and it's hardly surprising that the crowd engage most when he dusts off his biggest hits.

'In Da Club', in particular, has The O2 rocking, but such songs don't come frequently enough in a set that's well over two hours long.

Concert photo links:
Getty Images
Rex Features
Wire Image
WENN Photo

As reported by Shane Hickey / Irish Independent

You don't have to try too hard to get rich in this town.

Multimillionaire rapper 50 Cent landed an extra pay cheque when he arrived at a Dublin nightclub at the weekend, even though he spent a large part of his time there recording material with his new high-spec camera.

Sipping cranberry juice and leaving the more hardcore partying to his 20-strong entourage, the American musician glad-handed and posed with the punters in the Wright Venue in Swords on Sunday night, during his official after-show party.

Even though he landed an undisclosed sum for turning up following his show in the O2, he failed to take to the microphone or even the decks during his two-and-a-half hours in the club.

Instead he left it to his DJ, Wu Kid (DJ Whoo Kid) , and members of the G-Unit backing band to entertain the 1,000 people who paid €15 each for entry on the special night. A spokesman for the Wright Venue said they had been asked to host the official after-show party but declined to say how much the rapper was paid.

The star arrived at the northside venue just before 11pm in a convoy of six blacked-out people-carriers and was quick to mix with the crowds inside, posing with Irish rugby international Cian Healy, among others.

"We were expecting him to go to the VIP area and stay there for the evening but he did a whole tour of the club," the spokesman said.

After party photo link:
WENN Photo

more fan shot footage below.







(video footage courtesy of Magichi17 & mahonyp1)

50 Cent At Wembley Arena London, UK Concert Review

As reported by Lisa Verrico / Times London

The blocks of empty seats at the back of the arena were a sign. So, too, the number of parents who had come with their young kids — little boys in backwards baseball caps can be cute, but not cool. Throw in that teenagers were vastly outnumbered by women in their thirties who shrieked at every glimpse of 50 Cent’s enviably toned torso, and it was clear that gangsta rap can no longer call itself hip.

Of course, record sales have reflected the genre’s decline for a few years. Just half a decade ago 50 Cent was hip hop’s best-selling star, thanks as much to a bad-boy image plundered from his past as expletive-strewn songs that lacked the finesse of his mentor Eminem. Today, 50 — or Fiddy, or Curtis James Jackson III — still makes millions, but from flogging branded products (his most lucrative line is a vitamin drink) rather than selling songs.

Still, he seemed delighted to be back on stage, supposedly to promote the current album Before I Self-Destruct, really to big up his brand. A giant backdrop of the album’s cover art showing half of his handsome face burning from the inside couldn’t have been more at odds with the mile-wide smile he sported all evening or the sweetness with which he thanked the crowd for coming.

Musically the gig was hit-and-miss, though for factors other than the songs. The sound, particularly at the start, was woeful — the bass was barely audible, the beats so distorted that they could have been coming from a passing car with its windows up. Too often 50 Cent’s own, surprisingly seductive, R&B-tinged vocals were entirely drowned out by two below-par backing rappers from his G-Unit squad. That he had brought along a four-piece band as well as a DJ was admirable, though he made sparse use of them. All the show’s finest moments featured the band, notably when they were let loose on melodic, mid-tempo tracks such as P.I.M.P. and Do You Think About Me.

The performance was predictable and at times enchanting. Predictable because at least of half of it comprised 50 Cent waving both arms up and down as though leading an aerobics class for the elderly; enchanting because, for all his ludicrous posturing, 50 Cent has charisma in spades. He stripped off more often than the Pussycat Dolls, changing outfits every few songs just so that he could throw more clothes into the crowd — one leather jacket lasted less than 30 seconds on his back before being flung into the arms of a fan.

Yet around every corner was another cheesy cliché. After an energetic medley of Magic (Stick), Candy Shop and Beamer, Benz or Bentley that had the crowd screaming his name, 50 Cent dedicated the classic 21 Questions to “my lay-deez” by holding his mike at his crotch and stroking it. Oh dear.

more fan shot footage below.



(video courtesy of Kingexpression & xfran23)

Related:
50 Cent Wembley Arena London, UK Concert (with video & photo links)

Jay-Z In Detroit ROC City BP3 Tour Concert Review

As reported by Adam Graham / Detroit News

A sold-out Palace crowd of 15,000-plus was in a Jay-Z state of mind Sunday night, as rap's top performer brought his rousing BP3 tour to Auburn Hills (Sunday, March 14).

Backed by a massive 10-piece band that included a three-piece horn section and a wall of video screens fashioned into a city skyscape, Jay -- dressed in his standard-issue all black everything -- took the stage to "Run This Town," one of several hits lifted from last year's "Blueprint 3" album.

He rolled into his verse from "Diamonds from Sierra Leone," positioning himself at center stage, where he stood still, shifting his weight from his front to his back foot, motioning through the lyrics with his hands. A suite of "Blueprint 3" tracks followed, with Jay working both sides of the stage and looking customarily cool behind a pair of darkened shades.

As reported by Gary Greff / The Oakland Press

That wealth of material certainly worked to Jay-Z's advantage on Sunday, allowing him to survey an entire career of flavors and forms from the in-your-face material of his 1996 debut "Reasonable Doubt" -- including a particularly hot "Can I Live" -- to mainstream crossover fare such as the show-opening "Run This Town," "Empire State of Mind" and "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)." He mixed tight medleys with full-length song performances, confidently swaggering through favorites such as "On to the next One," "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)," "99 Problems," "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" and "Swagga Like Us" and issuing his trademark command -- "Bounce!" -- to keep the Palace crowd rocking from note one to the final bows. And he kept things even more "real" by ending several of the songs with forceful a capella raps

He had a little help, too. Memphis Bleek served as Jay-Z's hype man for about a third of the show, while opening act Trey Songz sang during "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)" and "Already Home." Young Jeezy's appearance during "Real As it Gets" led to a 25-minute solo set that somewhat stalled the show's momentum, but Jay-Z brought the energy back quickly with "My President."

Read each Detroit Newspaper full concert review here:
Detroit News - Jay-Z staying on top of his game
Oakland Press - Jay-Z's rap blueprint pays off at Palace

(Quality footage courtesy of 2 short skirts)

Jay-Z's BP3 2010 Tour dates:

Mar 16 Pittsburgh, PA - Mellon Arena
Mar 18 Chicago, IL - United Center
Mar 19 St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center
Mar 20 Indianapolis, IN - Conseco Fieldhouse
Mar 22 Denver, CO - Pepsi Center
Mar 24 San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion
Mar 26 Los Angeles, CA - Staples Center