With his 10-piece band in tow, rapper Jay-Z performed in concert Friday night (Oct 23) at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, PA.

Singers Mario, Trey Songz and Keri Hilson were supporting acts for Hov’s show and his long-time friend, rapper Beanie Sigel, took the stage also.

Continue reading for more pics!

CONTINUE READING

With Beyonce busy touring the world and Jay-Z promoting his new album and DJ Hero video game, seeing the two of them together has become a rare occasion.

But the married couple dropped $1,200 on lunch (including a bottle of Dom Perignion champagne) at Nello’s restuarant on the Upper East Side of New York City Monday afternoon (Oct 26). The pair also reportedly left the server a $500 tip.

Rapper Jay-Z showed off his DJ-ing skills at a press conference announcing the official launch of DJ Hero at the Plaza Hotel Monday (Oct 26) in New York City.

DJ Hero, a follow up to the popular “Guitar Hero” video game series, made its big debut in stores nationwide today with a price tag of $120.

Jay-Z’s name is behind the deluxe “Renegade Edition” of the game, which is a 2-CD set featuring Jay’s greatest hits on one disc and Eminem’s on the other. The deluxe edition also comes with a stand and carrying case.

Jay-Z seemed appropriately amped about the in-game blend of Em’s “My Name Is” and his own “Izzo (H.O.V.A.),” which he described as clever and his favorite in the soundtrack. When asked about his favorite song that wasn’t his own, he joked, “Does such a song exist?”

CONTINUE READING

Once again it’s history in the making as two worldwide multi-platinum selling artists are set to do something major! On Wednesday, October 28th on the field of the Yankee stadium prior to the Major League Baseball World Series Opening game, rapper Jay-Z and singer/songwriter Alicia Keys will perform their new song “Empire state of Mind” in front of thousands of fans at the arena, in addition to the millions of people watching at home.

And following their performance, Keys will redirect all attention to just her as she performs the National Anthem. Jay-Z proudly made the announcement via a MLB press release Monday (Oct 26).

“As a die-hard Yankee fan, I’m honored to perform a song that celebrates the greatness of New York in one of our city’s most important landmarks, Yankee Stadium.”

Both performances will air on Fox prior to the game when The New York Yankees take on the defending champions, the Philadelphia Phillies, at 7:30 PM  Eastern.  This also marks the first time that the World Series is being dedicated to community service since its beginning in 1903.  Both stars have had a rough childhood and are now on top the world between their music and success; these two starlets personify the, “American Dream.”

We just hope security is extra tight this time around so that Lil Mama can’t rush the field and crash their performance on account of her being “in the moment” lol!

The 2009 BET Hip Hop Awards went down in Atlanta, GA Saturday (Oct 10). We hear Jay-Z and Young Jeezy opened the show in a big way with a surprise performance! Other tidbits from the show include the late DJ AM being the recipient of the “DJ of the Year” award, Kid & Play popping up during New Boyz‘ performance and Gucci Mane performing like 3 or 4 times. The show also featured performances from Soulja Boy, Ludacris, Jim Jones, Snoop Dogg and more.

The show, hosted by comedian Mike Epps, airs on BET on Tuesday, October 27th at 8/7c and we hear it was actually the best out of the few that have gone on over the past few years.

In the meantime, check out all of the photos/happenings from the events surrounding the show by hitting up our BET Hip-Hop Awards ‘09 section and continue reading below for more pics from inside the show!

CONTINUE READING

We’re well aware that security was very lax at last month’s 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, but this video here is comedic gold! Remember when Lil Mama hopped her azz on stage and crashed Jay-Z and Alicia Keys‘ performance? Well a brand new video has surfaced and it features Jay’s wife Beyonce trying to stop Lil Mama from going up there on the stage. Clearly Lil Mama was in her own world and didn’t give a damn! Continue reading for the video…

CONTINUE READING

(01.) Jay-Z was given the honor of being the top emcee in the rap game for the year 2009, according to MTV. They give most of the credit due to his recent success with his latest album, The Blueprint 3.

Blueprint 3 is another Hov tour de force — and it destroys the myth that there’s an age limit on being a dope MC. At 39 years old, Jay is arguably still better than anybody on the mic today, rhyming with precision and grace. He throws buzzsaws right from the gate on the intro “What We Talking About,” where he raps about what he deems to be nonsense, like dwelling on rap beef.

Check out the full list after the break!
CONTINUE READING

Rapper Nelly was spotted by the paparazzi as he made his way to his car after partying at Alto Nightclub in London, England Friday night (Sep 25).

We also grabbed some recent candids of Keri Hilson, Jay-Z and more. Continue reading to check out all of the pics and click on the thumbnails for more information about each picture.

CONTINUE READING

Is this a sign of the changing times? Or is Oprah just looking for a way to score some ratings and get some new viewers? Whatever the case may be, the talk show queen invited Jay-Z, a member of hip-hop royalty, to her famous show for some one-on-one conversations about hip-hop, his past life as a drug dealer, the use of “the N word” in rap music and lots more.

Check out parts 1 – 3 of the televised airing of the show (and a video of Jay teaching O how to freestyle) below!

CONTINUE READING

It’s no secret that Jay-Z didn’t take kindly to Lil Mama crashing his performance with Alicia Keys at the VMAs, but a new report goes a bit further into detail. Apparently, he was so mad Beyonce had to eventually calm him down:

Though he tried to stay cool onstage, a backstage source tells us, “He went ballistic. He was screaming at the MTV producers about the lack of security. He apparently thought at first she was just a fan. Beyonce finally calmed him down.”

SOURCE

He also chatted it up with Hot 97 today and said he’d “never have the nerve” to do anything like that, adding all of the hard work that goes on into planning and executing a stage performance. He even compared the Lil Mama incident to the Kanye West/Taylor Swift incident that happened earlier in the show.

“Me, personally, I would never do that,” Hov told radio personality Angie Martinez. “I would never have the nerve to do that. It’s just like, someone’s up there performing…we went through rehearsals, we did run throughs and we worked really hard at the performance to put on a show for people and to interrupt that moment for us, you know, I don’t think that was the right thing to do. I actually thought it was the equivalent of what Kanye did to Taylor Swift…And I’m cool with her being excited and all that but you have to understand, people put in work to make that performance happen, that took weeks…I was a little angry to be honest, but what I’ma do, fight Lil Mama? [laughs]”

SOURCE

We really need something new to talk about. It’s been over a week since the VMAs first aired and people are still asking questions about this and the Kanye thing???