BONUS: Ari and Memphis Bleek on Jay-Z's return

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1:10Even Democratic leader Jeffries was seen dancing to an artist from his borough of Brooklyn. As Jay-Z marked the 30th anniversary of his debut album with a string of shows, it swiftly sold out one of the city's largest venues. and breaking records. Few performers can sell out large stadiums even in their prime, let alone decades later. As you can see here, New Yorkers turning out in droves, showing the spirit, loyalty, and diversity that can inform an empire state of mind. This is a drone video that shows what was going on this weekend. Across these shows, Jay brought out Eminem, Alicia Keys, Usher, Pharrell, his former disc competitor, Nas, and a lot of other artists you see here.

1:47His wife, Beyonce, came out on two nights. Rihanna just last night, or this morning, really, did her first performance in years. Now, Jay leads an entire generation of rap while he brought out icons from the genre's history, Slick Rick, Jeezy, Eclipse, and loyal artists who came up with him like Memphis Bleak, who rocked the stage with Coming of Age. There's just some of the footage that fans were posting. It was more than a concert. It was national news, the Today's show hailing the all-star surprise lineup, USA Today, noting this caps a blockbuster New York summer. And if you read the New York Times today, it reports the weekend shows by Jay were transcendent, dizzying, deeply memorable, and it discusses the musical feat of a concert that often boiled down to one man rapping with dexterity and flair commanding a stadium full of fans.

2:37Jay-Z is already a unique icon in our history. He went from public housing to a self-made writer, poet, entrepreneur, billionaire. He embodies the triumph of talent, work, and vision in a way that we know inspires many Americans, including those excluded from past empty promises about an American dream. Obama recognized that, tapping Jay as a powerful validator in his first run for the White House before he won. These weekend shows bring it back to the art, demonstrating that people are still with him, and he's still got it. In fact, in an era of virtual propaganda and fake news and a kind of cultural authenticity crisis, where singers routinely lip-sync on stage and some concert fans focused more on making their phone content than like dancing or listening.

3:21These shows were the OG real thing. The artist filling the stadium with his real voice, rapping the poems he composed, which clearly still resonate decades later. That's not automatic. That's not an automatic thing for any songs, even hits like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, or Billy Joel. Artists' great songs become classics because they actually get even better with time. Jay-Z's catalog is full of that material, songs that bring you out to dance at a wedding even if you weren't a devoted fan, or songs that make you think harder the closer you manage to listen to them. And that's not all. I mentioned it's a feat to sell out the stadium, but Jay didn't do it with some greatest hits collection.

4:06The stars I mentioned were mostly surprise announcements. The first night was devoted to a live performance of his entire debut album, Front to Back. The second to his entire classic album, The Blueprint, 25 years later. Just having one full album triumph, no skips, as it is said, is hard enough. Let me tell you something. It's a musical flex to play the entire album and satisfy a demanding stadium crowd with material that demonstrably, provably resonates now decades after it was first created. To get a perspective on this from the stage, we're joined by the great Memphis Bleak rapper, longtime collaborator with Jay-Z.

4:49He was one of the many guest stars that performed over the weekend and has a new song out now called No More. That's right. Welcome back to the beat. What's up, man? Thank you, thank you, man. I'm happy to be here. I'm surprised I'm awake. We were both there in different ways It's past 3 a.m., so it was really this morning. Now we're here. I appreciate you coming in. What did it feel like when you touched the stage and looked at it, as I mentioned, that diverse crowd that was with it? It was surreal almost because we had an enclosed, what would you call it, rehearsal. Yeah. They had the tent, the top over the stage, so you couldn't really feel how big the stage was.

5:25When I walked out there and saw the crowd, saw the stage, my heart just was pounding. and I was nervous like it was my first show again. You felt nervous up there. Bro, kidding me? You didn't look nervous, Bleak. I didn't. And then remember, I haven't performed. We didn't perform coming to age the song probably in like 16 years. So it was like, wow, the first record that changed my life. That's what I had to tell Jay when the show was over. I was like, it's so awesome that 30 years ago we were praying this worked and this is the result of those prayers of what worked. Yeah. You talk about the timing.

6:03We have some old pictures of where you and Jay-Z started out and how you were coming up, and that story is inspiring to so many people. So this was back in the day. Talk about the growth and the elevation that he embodies and what it means because not all albums 30 years later are getting played, let alone on a stage. Artists ain't even, some albums ain't getting played 30 days later, let alone 30 years later. Like some of the things I learned from Jay is just being, a man first. You know, I grew up without a father. So, you know what I mean? My older brother was like the one who took care of me, showing me the ropes.

6:39But getting with Jay, it was like telling me how to be a man, hold your composure, how to be a businessman. You know what I mean? And he's the reason I know if you're not 15 minutes early, you 30 minutes late. So it's like those type of things, he instilling you and just respect, you know, command in a room, never forget who you You never diminish yourself to be in any room. You make a room appear to you. You don't appeal to anyone. They appeal to you. So just knowing who you are and that belief and determination, man. Jay just in breeds like never quit. Share a desire that I'm going to win. Even when everyone say no, I believe.

7:22My belief is stronger. Never quit. That's right. Never change. That's a fact. On the core. I saw him perform. We also have pictures of people at the shows. We got you, Paper Planes, of course, which is one of the visionary brands of Jay-Z, the idea that you could make the plane fly just like you could make a paper plane. You got the Yankee gear. I saw a lot of people with my own eyes at these shows either rocking the old stuff or getting new stuff that they wanted to share. What does it mean to you that people want to share in this? People was making, you saw the new, it's another New York hat.

7:54I forgot the designer name, but it's a really dope hat where he made the New York Yankee logo actually say Jay-Z, where he wrote it on there. The hat is going viral. It's amazing. I've seen new jerseys, like people making Brooklyn jerseys with their own number and J name on the back. Just for the fans to come out like that and show that support 30 years later, that's significant, man. It's like, that's what you do it for. You ought to play a little bit of what he does, these acapella raps when he's got stuff to get off his chest. They say I sold out. Yeah, I did sell out. Three nights. I sold Yankee Stadium and I'm out.

8:31I'm a target. Hey, don't miss that target. No exclusive. They only do it with Apple World Lawyer. You shopping at Amazon? All you boy got. You posting on Instagram? That's meta, boy. Stop it. Y 'all know Google owns YouTube. You picking and choosing a politician as usual.

8:56For those who might not know, tell us about this poetry. He composes usually in his head in Philly. And now this weekend, he's dropped these new poems, speaking to current times, talking about how do you represent for civil rights while also being an entrepreneur. And some of the things he says people are pushing on him, he says, are sort of double standards. But tell us about how this works. And have you seen him kind of pop up and drop these gems? Like Jay is a he's a weird, weird artist. Like, to see him work, you'll see him work. That's like you're sitting right here, we're talking. As I'm speaking, you're writing the rhyme in your head.

9:32So when I'm done talking, you're like, bleep, I'm going to go in the studio and spit this verse. I'm like, how? When did you write it? That's Jay. And writes it in his head. In his mind, right there, on the spot. I remember we did a limo ride from his apartment, 560 State Street to JFK. It's about a 30-minute ride. He wrote the whole song Sunshine in that ride. Really? From beginning to end. And you testified. All he was doing was playing the beat. By the time we got to the airport, turned the car around. We went back to the studio. Then booked the flight later. I love it. I love it. Look, it's feeling like whole summer.

10:10Are there any more surprises that we should be prepared for? Definitely, man. We got London coming up. We got L.A. coming up, SoFi Stadium. Paris coming up September 4th, September 10th. October I think 12th is so far man it's gonna be just get ready this is a whole summer this is a takeover it's a takeover in closing I've said this to you off air but I'll say it in front of the people who watch the news at a time like this music still inspires it brings us together growing up on artists like yourself and Hov and others and then getting to meet you guys and then being there and seeing everyone together there's an energy to that it's what we need we need more than just debates and division And we certainly need authenticity because there's a lot of fake stuff going on.

10:55So an honor to have you back. Congrats. Bro, appreciate you, man. An honor to be here. Like I said, it's an honor to be amongst the greats, to work with somebody like Jay. Like I said, if I would have known the person from my building was going to eventually be the greatest, I would have wrote a plan. I didn't plan well enough. Memphis Bleak, back on the beat. And check out the new track from Bleak called No More. or you can get it on streaming services. We'll be right back. You've never been one to settle, stand down, or stand still. You're a lifelong learner, energized by excellence. There's a fire inside you you can't ignore.

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