Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 tour hit Chicago..

Jay-Z first hit the music scene in 1996. Now you must understand the average lifespan of the average hot rap star is about 3 years, give or take a few months (remember how you had to hear "Hot in Herre"by Nelly every 3 minutes?). Then there's the rare rap star who maintains their relevance in the music world (Snoop, Eminem), and even then you shouldnt expect anything much from their stage show. Rappers aren't great entertainers, unfortunately. Yet since 1996 Jay-Z has taken all that he's seen and experienced and sorted the good and the bad from his own career and ran with it.

I've seen Jay-Z in concert a handfull of times and each time he's gotten better with each perfromance. He's gone from a jersey-wearing stand stilll rhyme sayer who's needed other characters on stage with charisma to help his performanceto the headlining one mans how he is now.

On to the show...first up was the curtain opened Trey Songz. If you've never heard of Songz, its ok...he's just the latest r&b heartthrob, a 25 year-old crooner who appears on alot of remixes and looks great taking his shirt off. A very intense performer, Songz performs more like a rapper than anything, yet most of his act is based in baby-making music.The ladies ate up his act, singing hits songs "Say Ahh", "Neighbors knowmy name" and his "Panty Droppa", which had the crowd on their feet. I must say that I wasn't a fan of Songz before this performance, but after listening to him sing a few of his hits and the intensity of his show and the fun he seemed to be having with his band he definitely won me over.

Intermission came next, and while the stage crew set up, the crowd headed to the concourse for drinks and breaks while preparing for what they expected to be a set by Young Jeezy. A countdown with on the screen from 10:00 and as the lights got set and the band prepared to go, as the clock hit 0:00 a majority of the crowd was still on the concourse as the lights went off and the sounds of "Run this town"  hit the speakers and Jay-Z emerged from a lift underneath the stage completely taking the entire crowd by surprise.

Jay-Z supplied hit after hit after hit, showing once again how his stage performance has grown with age. No longer needing the sideman (we barely saw a glimpse of co-hort Memphis Bleek) or any other label mates to take the stage with him, Jay-Z rocked out with just his backing band for most of the show. Clearly enthused by the size of the crowd (almost every seat in the United Center was filled except the section behind the stage) or his special guests (NBA baller LeBron James) Jay was all hits and no misses, unlike previous shows. Performing hits from almost every album, he concentrated mostly on tracks from his latest release, Blueprint 3, including the crowd-pleaser "Empire state ofmind".  Around the 1 hour mark we were treated to the 3rd act on the tour, Young Jeezy.

Jeezy made his way to the stage collaborating on a song from the Blueprint 3 album before Jay stepped away to give Jeezy his stage time. The crowd was really into Jeezy, who's street lyrics and street mentality may be just too "real" for mainstream America. He is however, huge in mixtape and street scene, and his status continues to grow with each release. Yet again, its his street mentality that truly may keep him away from superstardom, with the latest example of this being his shoutouts to "the vicelords and folks gangstas" in the audience...which garnered the most unique responce of the evening from the crowd.
Jeezy ran through a medly of hits and verses that kept the crowd on their feet and singing along before Jay-Z returned.

If you haven't figured out that Jay-Z is a business yet then figure who he's on tour with: touring with two of the hottest urban artists out right now, there's even plans for a joint album being made. Add that to the fact you couldnt walk 10 feet without someone trying to get you sign up or sell you anything featuring Jay-Z (I love you Jay, but I will not spend $40 for anyone's t-shirt that doesn't come with a jetpack).

Jay returned to the stage piggy-backing on Jeezy's "My president is black", and from there we were treated to a video from the President Obama giving a speech and wiping dirt off his shoulder, referening another Jay-Z hit. Jay went into that song before performing about 45 minutes more, focusing on early material. Throughout the show, Jay was continuously gracious to the crowd, even going so far as to accept one fan's demotape, and sign another's baseball hat before bringing her on stage for a hug and giving her the mic to rhyme a few of her own lyrics. Throughout 'overtime" Jay kept thanking the crowd and even took a song request ("Song Cry") before heading out to his usual show ender "Encore".

Again, I've seen Jay-Z in concert many times before but never has he been as good as this last show....for someone who doesn't want to just be the best rapper but the best act in music, a show like this one will definitely help his cause.

going for pizza...not done.