Jay-Z performs at 1st Mariner Arena on Tuesday {thanks, The Baltimore Sun}

Jay-Z
1st Mariner Arena
Oct. 30, 2009

“Does the University of Maryland have a fight song? No? Can I play you mine?” Jay-Z asked the sold-out 1st Mariner Arena crowd Tuesday night.

Then the 38-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., rap king sang, “La-da-da-da, hey-hey-hey, goodbyeeee” and the horns blared. Once the snare blasts hit, it was a wrap — Jay-Z was in Baltimore to remind us that no matter how many young MCs enter the game, he’s still the one with the most hits.

He opened the show with his two verses from “Run This Town” and moved into “D.O.A.” The radio staples continued all night — “99 Problems,” “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” “I Just Wanna Love U” were recited word for word from the crowd. But it was the slightly darker, adrenaline-pumping album cuts that sounded transcendent.

I could have ran through a brick wall during The Blueprint’s “You Don’t Know.” And when “Public Service Announcement” dropped — a scene I’d waited for since watching it repeatedly on the documentary “Fade to Black” — the crowd lost its collective shit.

Hov is clearly excited by his new Blueprint 3 material, playing songs that won’t ever make a Greatest Hits compilation. But for the most part, they worked.

“Already Home,” even without Kid Cudi to sing the hook, felt appropriately regal (lyrically more than sonically). “Empire State of Mind” transported the Baltimore/D.C. crowd to Jay’s backyard. You would have thought everyone was a Yankee fan, belting back the “Big lights will inspire you” hook. Even “So Ambitious,” a lukewarm BP3 song, was energized with its brass section.

It didn’t hurt that Pharrell, the song’s producer and crooner, came out to supply the chorus and conduct the horns.

The night’s highlight came during the encore. After running through more BP3 tracks (”Thank You,” “On to the Next One”), Jay said he had “one or two more records” for us. Understatement of the night?

Picture this medley rundown: “Can I Get a …” to “Excuse Me Miss” (the crowd, of course, did its two step) to “Big Pimpin.’” But Jay stopped “Big Pimpin’” before its first verse, egging the crowd on to respect one of his biggest crossover hits. He had thousands waving jackets and coats to recreate Rio Carnival, an iconic scene from the song’s music video. The night ended with — what else? — “Encore” and saw Jay put the spotlight on the crowd to call out and thank personally those in attendance.

“You with the pink pants on, I see you.” “You, I saw you all night, trying to play it cool but you wilded out.” “Dodgers jacket.” It might have felt long if you weren’t singled out, but it didn’t bother me.

Jay-Z is married to Beyoncé, worth more than half a billion dollars, friends with President Barack Obama, held us down for more than 10 summers, etc. There was something downright cool about him singling out concertgoers to show his appreciation. After the 15 minute “I see you” section, the encore concluded with BP3’s final song, “Young Forever.” It’s not the most memorable closing moment (and the sentiment is a bit sappy) but it capped off a night that didn’t need a stirring finale.

He thanked us one last time, smirked and saluted the crowd as he was lowered below the stage. On to the next one…

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