Yes folks, he is back and on tour as a solo act for the first time in FOUR YEARS. Sounds incredible, right? Especially since I’ve seen Jay Z on stage some five times in the past four years! Well, that’s New York for you, Jigga is always at ground zero though never at MSG any more, the best area arena.
Jay Z will be at Barclay Center and here is a taster for all you good people: the Magna Carter World Tour opened in a Minneapolis (where else, right?) and all we got was this lousy set list. And still no “Roc Boy (And The Winner Is”) Here we go pop pickers
Set list:
“U Don’t Know” – Coke on the streets, Jay Z writing the Blueprint, what’s not to like? – B+
“Crown” – That’s a strange second song, a sort of moody new r&b backing track. I guess you have to be there – C+
“On to the Next One” – FREEZE… – A
“Holy Grail” – Yeah, I never could figure why this hit – C
“Fuckwithmeyouknowigotit” – Rick Ross is really good here – B
“Beach Is Better” – Best song on the album and only 56 seconds! – A-
“99 Problems” – Classic stands up well – A
“Picasso Baby” – Casso in his Casa!! – B+
“Dead Presidents II” – Back to the beginning! – B+
“Pound Cake” – Hmmm, why is he rolling out the song he did on Drake’s album – B
“No Church in the Wild” – I was never that keen on the album and am not thrilled by this – C
“Tom Ford” – Despite an iffy shout out, this song is Magna Carta‘s N—- In Paris” – B+
Timbaland Interlude
“Somewhere in America” – ANother great track off the newbie, and prescient as you can get – A-
“Big Pimpin'” – Around about here, with the Arabic pop sample, it was all over. If you had any problems with Vol 2, you had none with this off Vol 3. We stopped fighting Jay Z – A
“Jigga What, Jigga Who””Dirt Off Your Shoulder””I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)” – The song in the middle was quoted by the President of the United States, but the one that opes the medley is his greatest moment – A (A” for Jigga)
“N***s in Paris” – Yeah, I don’t buy it – C
“PSA” – Allow him to reintroduce himself – A-
“Clique”- The only song both Kanye and Jay Z are both performing on their respective tours – A-
“Run This Town” – Rihanna never better – B+
“Encore” – Fabulous sample – B+
“Empire State of Mind” – This is our New York anthem?? This????? – C-
“Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” – That’s the anthem get your damn hands up – A
“Hard Knock Life” – This isn’t the birth of hip hop, but it is the final light bulb, oh this is where everyone is going moment: it was the opening of the floodgates, after this neither Jay Z nor the world could go back – A+
“Young Forever” – The only good thing about ending with this pile of crap is it lets you out early – D+