Source : @Variety
LOS ANGELES — Jay-Z opened the first of two sold-out nights at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Friday (Oct 23), bringing out his daughter Blue Ivy Carter, Scarface, DJ Khaled and John Legend during a two-hour set marking three decades of his career, Variety reported on Saturday (Oct 24).
The concerts are part of “Jay-Z 30”, a year-long celebration of the 30th anniversary of his debut album “Reasonable Doubt”, as Billboard noted. The run began with a one-off headline show at the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia in late May and went on to three sold-out nights at New York’s Yankee Stadium, dates in London and Paris, and an eight-episode HBO docuseries on his catalogue. The two Los Angeles shows are the final stop.
Blue Ivy on keys
Blue Ivy, who played piano on “Feelin’ It” at Yankee Stadium, was back at the keyboard for “The Story of O.J.” and “Dead Presidents”. Houston rap veteran Scarface joined Jay-Z for their collaboration “This Can’t Be Life” and for the Geto Boys classic “Mind Playing Tricks on Me”. DJ Khaled and John Legend then walked out for the closing number, “God Did”, the 2022 track that originally also featured Rick Ross, Lil Wayne and Fridayy.
Variety described the Los Angeles show as deliberately pared back compared with New York, where the guest list had included his wife Beyoncé, Rihanna and Eminem. The Hollywood Reporter added Nas and Usher to the New York roll call and said Jay-Z performed much more on his own at SoFi.
The 33-song setlist opened with “Hovi Baby” and ran through hits including “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”, “Run This Town”, “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)”, “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” and “99 Problems”. Before launching into “Empire State of Mind” near the end of the night, he asked the crowd if he could take them to his home for a moment. Many of the visuals carried over from the New York shows, including the opening image of Beyoncé shaving his head, Variety said.
The official Jay-Z 30 team said the night also included a tribute to the late Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle, with a nod to his “Hussle & Motivate” during “Hard Knock Life” and the instrumental of “Last Time I Checc’d” worked into “On to the Next One”.
Super Bowl talk
The concert also fed growing speculation that Jay-Z could headline the Super Bowl halftime show in February 2027. That game is being played at SoFi Stadium, and Variety said it was hard not to view Friday’s performance as a possible dry run. There has been no official announcement.
Familiar faces in the crowd included Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, G-Eazy, Tia Mowry and Omari Hardwick, Billboard reported. Variety said fans spotted Beyoncé with Rowland and Williams in one of the stadium suites, a small Destiny’s Child reunion of its own.
USA Today reported that the 25-time Grammy winner took the stage at about 9.25pm local time on Friday, which was around 12.25pm on Saturday in Malaysia. Now 56, Jay-Z has not released a solo album in nearly a decade, yet he continues to fill stadiums around the world. He returns to SoFi Stadium for the second and final night on Saturday (Oct 24), which falls on Sunday (Oct 25) in Malaysia, and fans are expecting more surprises to close out the celebration.
The original Variety post can be viewed on X: https://x.com/Variety/status/2113913941076197822.
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