Jay-Z wrapped his three-night Yankee Stadium residency in the early hours of Monday morning, finally taking the stage after midnight and delivering a nearly three-hour, 50-song set that featured Beyoncé, Rihanna, Usher, Pharrell Williams, Clipse, and loads more.
Last night's Jay-Z show, billed as “Extra Innings” after two prior evenings dedicated to the 25th and 30th anniversaries of The Blueprint and Reasonable Doubt albums, was plagued by hours-long delays as thousands of fans struggled to enter the venue. Shortly after 1 a.m., Jay-Z addressed the crowd with an apology and an explanation: “It was like 10,000 people outside and they closed all the doors and somebody rushed the doors and they closed the door. I don’t want to start music and people get trampled. So I’m really sorry for the inconvenience but I had to make sure everybody’s OK. I got some shit for you, I promise you.”
A little earlier, Jay had joked that the show would run until 5 a.m. and while the curtain didn’t drop quite that late, the lights finally came up around 3 a.m. after a performance that moved through hits and deep cuts with a rotating cast of guests.
The set spanned nearly three decades of material, from early classics like “Dead Presidents” and “Can I Live” to later cuts such as “Clique” and “FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt”. Teyana Taylor stepped in for Mary J. Blige’s hook on “Can’t Knock the Hustle”, a part Beyoncé had sung on the residency’s opening night. Beyoncé herself returned to the stage for “Drunk in Love”. Rihanna delivered the hook on “Run This Town” and “Bitch Better Have My Money”.
Usher handled “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)” and “Throwback”, while Pharrell reprised his Saturday night appearance for a medley of collaborations.
The Friday and Saturday shows had both started in the 9 p.m. hour, but Sunday’s entry delays - documented widely on social media - pushed the start time back. Jay’s band took their positions after midnight, and the rapper finally emerged at midnight to a stadium still filling up. The night’s eventual scale, with over 40,000 in attendance, underscored the pull of a residency that had initially been announced as two nights before “Extra Innings” was added.
Across
the three concerts, Jay-Z revisited the catalogue that has made him a
central figure in hip-hop while offering no indication of new material,
despite fan speculation sparked by a video shown at the start of the
first and third nights, in which Beyoncé buzzed off his hair - a ritual
that has previously signalled the end of a recording cycle.
Jay-Z Yankee Stadium residency finale setlist
“Dynasty Intro”
“Brooklyn’s Finest”
“Dirt Off Your Shoulder”
“I Know”
“U Don’t Know”
“Can’t Knock the Hustle”
“Money Ain’t a Thing”
“Seen It All”
“Go Crazy”
“Hola Hovito”
“Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)”
“Throwback”
“Never Change”
“Song Cry”
“Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”
“Beach Is Better (Interlude)”
“FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt”
“N— What, N— Who”
“No Church in the Wild”
“Clique”
“Run This Town”
“Bitch Better Have My Money”
“Dead Presidents”
“Can I Live”
“Girls Girls Girls”
“99 Problems”
“Ruff Ryder’s Anthem / Welcome to the Jungle / So Appalled / Jigga My N— / On to the Next One”
“Ain’t No N—”
“Excuse Me Miss / La La La / I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me) / Frontin’ / Allure”
“Grindin’”
“Drunk in Love”
“N—s in Paris” / “Big Pimpin’”
“Public Service Announcement”
“New York, New York”
“Empire State of Mind”
“New York”
“Dear Summer”
“Lucifer”
“Encore”
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