HOW DO you get to Carnegie Hall?
The time-honored joke — (answer: practice) — could not possibly apply to Jay-Z. He’s a master of his art, yet it still took him 17 years to mount the stage of this hallowed hall. He did so Monday in a benefit gig for the United Way and the Shawn Carter Fund, which helps at-risk and low-income students in New York public schools.
While Jay isn’t the first hip-hop star to play here (Mos Def, Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill beat him to it), he’s the first rapper to earn two nights running, with an encore set for Tuesday.
Those who wanted tickets to take in his achievement needed to be extra bling-worthy. While a small number of seats went for $150, more went for $500, $2,000 and beyond.
Unsurprisingly, the audience not only fell far from citizens of Brooklyn’s Marcy Projects, where Jay is from, but also from many of his usual fans. Those with scratch witnessed a show unlike any the star has played before. Never has he hit the stage armed with a full, 36-piece orchestra to complement his 10-piece band.
Early on, Jay leaned into the novelty of the event by announcing: “I’ve always wanted to say this at Carnegie — Is Brooklyn in the house?”
The whole production stressed local color, from the art deco shots of the New York skyline and the subway in the background, to the inevitable performance of “Empire State of Mind,” complete with Alicia Keys. Seldom has she sung its chorus with such soaring pride.
The best orchestrations of the night gave the material some of the grandeur of ’70s soul tracks, like “Theme from Shaft,” or “Across 110th Street.” The string section gave fresh bounce to hits like “99 Problems,” and added a more stern kind of funk to “Big Pimpin.” But with little room to fit in, the orchestra did sit out most of “Hard Knock Life.”
Jay admitted the arrangements were thrown together quickly. The rapper did the most to look dapper during the 90-minute show, appearing first in a white dinner jacket, then a chic black suit. To push the grownup act even further, he performed his newly penned song to his daughter with Beyoncé, “Glory.”
It’s not his most pronounced number, but it measured his own maturity as well as that of hip hop itself. For all of Jay’s surprise at his surroundings, the swiftness and wit of his raps prove he earned his place here.
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