Brooklyn-born rapper Jay-Z joined by wife Beyonce, Kanye West, Rihanna, John Mayer, Diddy and Mary J Blige came together on Friday night to pay tribute to fallen police and firefighters of 9/11. The proceeds of the sold-out Madison Square Garden concert,will be donated to the New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund.
Emotions ran high in the concert which opened with an oath of loyalty to the US, followed by evocative electric guitar riffs from The Star-Spangled Banner. Jay-Z continued with his own New York anthems — including Empire State of Mind; Where I’m From, a song about his upbringing in the Marcy housing projects complex and Brooklyn Go Hard.
Jay-Z, who is wildly adored in New York, turned his life around after dealing drugs at the age of 13, dogging three bullets and growing up in a tough neighbourhood in Brooklyn.
The rapper, whose real name is Shawn Carter, went on to perform over 30 songs from his 11 albums during the two-hour set. Jay-Z didn’t seem to mind at all when his wife, Beyonce stole some of the thunder by dominating the stage with a swagger-jammed dance routine to her hit song Diva.
“We stand here tonight eight years later even stronger, even stronger,” Jay-Z yelled to 9/11-scarred New Yorkers who packed the fabled venue. “This is our own. We run this town New York City!”
“Make some noise for everybody that lost their lives so we can live ours,” he added.
For all the fierce rapping and noise, Jay-Z held a moment of silence three-quarters into the show.
An emotional dam burst with some concert-goers openly weeping when a montage of the faces of the men and women who died on 9/11 was shown. The head shots of the fallen appeared on a backdrop of buildings while Jay-Z’s Young Forever played in the background.
