Jaÿ-Z turned Yankee Stadium into hip-hop’s biggest stage this past weekend by celebrating three decades of his legendary career with three back-to-back nights of music and special guests.
Before the first show fully kicked off last Friday (July 10), Jaÿ played a video showing his wife Beyoncé cutting his hair while he was seated in the stadium’s stands, bringing his classic low-cut Caesar back. The entire show paid homage to the 30-year anniversary of his debut album, Reasonable Doubt.
While performing the classic LP in full, Hov had some help with special guests including Bey, who opened the show by performing Mary J. Blige’s part on “Can’t Knock The Hustle.” He was later joined by Nas for “Dead Presidents” and a medley of other songs, before Hov and Bey’s first-born Blue Ivy hit the stage to play the piano for “Feelin’ It.” Memphis Bleek and Jaz-O also hit the stage, with Alicia Keys coming out toward the end for an encore to perform “Empire State of Mind.”
Night two on July 11 began promptly at 9:11pm, as the night paid homage to the 25-year anniversary of The Blueprint, which was released on the fateful day of Sept. 11, 2001. While he performed most of the album in full, Hov notably opted not to perform the Nas-diss track “The Takeover.”
Special guests on night two included Slick Rick for “The Ruler’s Back,” Eminem for “Renegade” and Pharrell Williams for a medley of their collabs, starting with “Excuse Me Miss.” Of the three nights, night two was the shortest performance time, coming in at just under two hours.
The show set the record for most tickets ever sold for a concert at Yankee Stadium with a total of 45,832–beating his own record he’d just set the night before with 44,916 tickets.
Night three on July 12 was billed as Extra Innings, paying homage to the hits throughout his career. The finale show was marred by a lengthy delay after a security breach of fans rushing the gates outside Yankee Stadium forced officials to lock down the entrances. Jaÿ later apologized to fans once the show began, telling everyone safety was the priority to prevent anyone from being trampled.
Hov didn’t take the stage until well after midnight, but he more than made up for it with the show he provided ticketholders. For more than two hours, he performed songs from Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint, The Black Album and more.
Night three was the longest show with the longest guest list, with featured performers including Jeezy, Teyana Taylor, Usher, Jermaine Dupri, The-Dream, Usher, Pharrell again, The Clipse, Swizz Beatz, Rihanna, Beyoncé again–this time with her dancers–and Fat Joe and Jadakiss.
Relive all three shows below with setlists and videos from each night.
See the Setlist and Highlights From Night 1 of Jaÿ-Z at Yankee Stadium
“Can’t Knock the Hustle/Love On Top” featuring Beyoncé
“Politics As Usual”
“Made In America (Freestyle)”
“Brooklyn’s Finest”
“I Love The Dough”
“Dead Presidents” featuring Nas
“The World Is Yours” featuring Nas
“N.Y. State of Mind” featuring Nas
“Where I’m From” featuring Nas
“Feelin’ It” featuring Blue Ivy on piano)
“D’evils”
“No Church In The Wild”
“Can I Live”
“Jigga My N**ga”
“Ain’t No N**ga”
“Excuse Me Miss”
“22 Two’s”
“Friend Or Foe / Friend Or Foe ’98”
“Coming Of Age” featuring Memphis Bleek
“Cashmere Thoughts”
“Allure”
“Bring It On” featuring Jaz-O
“Regrets”
“Encore”
“Empire State of Mind” featuring Alicia Keys
“U Don’t Know”
“Best Of Me”
“Blow The Whistle”
“La-La-La (Excuse Me Miss Again)”
“Beware of the Boys”
“Change The Game”
“Do It Again (Put Ya Hands Up)”
“You, Me, Him and Her”
“Roc Boys (And The Winner Is…)”
“Public Service Announcement”
“N**gas In Paris”
“Big Pimpin’≈
See the Setlist and Highlights From Night 2 of Jaÿ-Z at Yankee Stadium
“The Ruler’s Back” featuring Slick Rick
“Takeover”
“Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”
“Girls, Girls, Girls / ’03 Bonnie & Clyde / Jigga That N**ga”
“U Don’t Know”
“Hola Hovito”
“Heart Of The City (Ain’t No Love)”
“Never Change”
“Song Cry”
“All I Need”
“Renegade” featuring Eminem
“Lose Yourself” featuring Eminem
“Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)”
“Empire State of Mind”
“Excuse Me Miss” featuring Pharrell
“LA-LA-LA (Excuse Me Again)” featuring Pharrell
“I Just Wanna Love You” (Give It 2 Me) featuring Pharrell
“Frontin'” featuring Pharrell
“Allure” featuring Pharrell
“Public Service Announcement”
“N**gas In Paris”
“Big Pimpin'”
See the Setlist and Highlights From Night 3 of Jaÿ-Z at Yankee Stadium
“Intro (The Dynasty)”
“Brooklyn’s Finest”
“Where I’m From”
“Dirt Off Your Shoulder”
“I Know”
“U Don’t Know”
“Can’t Knock the Hustle” featuring Teyana Taylor
“Money Ain’t A Thang” featuring Jermaine Dupri
“Seen It All” featuring Jeezy
“Go Crazy” featuring Jeezy
“Hola Hovito”
“Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)” featuring Usher
“Part II (On The Run)” featuring Usher
“Never Change”
“Song Cry”
“Izzo (H O.V.A)”
“Beach Is Better”
“Fuckwithmeyouknowigotit”
“N**ga What, N**ga Who” (Originator ’99)
“No Church In The Wild” featuring The-Dream
“Clique”
“Run This Town” featuring Rihanna
“B*tch Better Have My Money” featuring Rihanna
“Dead Presidents”
“Can I Live”
“Girls, Girls, Girls”
“’03 Bonnie & Clyde”
“99 Problems”
“Ruff Ryders’ Anthem / Welcome to the Jungle /So Appalled (Interlude)” featuring Swizz Beatz
“Jigga My N**ga” featuring. Swizz Beatz
“On to the Next One” featuring Swizz Beatz
“Ain’t No N**ga”
“Excuse Me Miss” featuring Pharrell
“La La La (Excuse Me Again)” featuring Pharrell
“I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)” featuring Pharrell
“Frontin'” featuring Pharrell
“Allure” featuring Pharrell
“Grindin'” featuring Clipse & Pharrell
“Drunk in Love / Tom Ford” featuring Beyoncé
“N**gas in Paris”
“Big Pimpin”
“Public Service Announcement”
“Empire State of Mind”
“New York” featuring Fat Joe and Jadakiss
“Dear Summer”
“Lucifer”
“Dirt Off Your Shoulder (Reprise)”
“Numb / Encore”