Jay-Z has played nights two and three of his massive three-night run at Yankee Stadium, and brought out huge names including Eminem, Rihanna, and Pharrell as special guests.

The two dates came after the rapper kicked off the first show celebrating the 30th anniversary of his 1996 album ‘Reasonable Doubt’ on Friday (July 11). That date was a family affair, with his wife BeyoncĂ© joining him on ‘Can’t Knock the Hustle’ and their eldest daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, taking to the piano for a rendition of ‘Feelin’ It’.

Other guests on the opening night included Memphis Bleek, Jaz-O, Alicia Keys, and Nas.

Now, Jay-Z has played the second and third nights of the three-night run, and kept the special guests coming. At night two, he celebrated 25 years of ‘The Blueprint’ and kicked things off by opening the show with the opening track from that album, ‘The Ruler’s Book’, which he hasn’t played live in 20 years.

 

Slick Rick joined him as a special guest to perform the 1985 song ‘La Di Da Di’, and then fellow rap icon Eminem also joined the show later on to perform ‘Renegade’ and the huge hit ‘Lose Yourself’.

During the encore, after Jay-Z played the majority of ‘The Blueprint’ tracklist, Pharrell came out for back-to-back renditions of ‘Excuse Me Miss’, ‘Frontin’’ and ‘Allure’.

The night two setlist was:

‘The Ruler’s Back’ (first time since 2006)
‘The Ruler’s Back’ (with Slick Rick)
‘La Di Da Di’ (with Slick Rick)
‘Izzo (H.O.V.A.)’
‘Girls, Girls, Girls’
‘Jigga That N****’
‘U Don’t Know’
‘Hola’ Hovito’
‘Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)’
‘Never Change’
‘Song Cry’
‘All I Need’
‘Renegade’ (with Eminem)
‘Lose Yourself’ (with Eminem)
‘Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)’
‘Empire State of Mind’
‘Excuse Me Miss’ (with Pharrell Williams)
‘La-La-La (Excuse Me Miss Again)’ (with Pharrell Williams)
‘I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)’ (with Pharrell Williams)
‘Frontin” (with Pharrell Williams)
‘Allure’ (with Pharrell Williams)
‘N***** in Paris / Big Pimpin”
‘Public Service Announcement’
‘Encore’

For the third and final night, fans faced a nearly-four-hour delay after some audience members reportedly rushed the gates ahead of the gig starting. As a result of them getting past security without being screened, a full lockdown of the stadium was enforced, with fans not allowed in or out for an extended period of time.

When Jay-Z did take to the stage, four hours after the listed start time, he told them that he “appreciated your patience” and promised that he had “got some shit for you”.

As the show finally kicked off, the first guest to join him on stage was Teyana Taylor, who collaborated with him for ‘Can’t Knock The Hustle’, and this was followed by a cover of Jermaine Dupri’s ‘Money Ain’t A Thang’, which Jay-Z broke out with Drupri himself.

Jeezy came out for two songs, ‘Seen It All’ and ‘Go Crazy’, while later in the night The-Dream joined for ‘No Church In The Wild’ and Usher came out for ‘Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)’ and ‘Throwback / Part II (On the Run)’.

To wrap up the third night, Jay-Z brought out Rihanna, and they delivered intense performances of ‘Run This Town’ – the song they released together in 2009 – and Rihanna’s own song ‘Bitch Better Have My Money’.

Other guests on the night included Fat Joe, Swizz Beatz, Clipse, BeyoncĂ© again for ‘Drunk In Love’, and Pharrell again for ‘Excuse Me Miss’, ‘La La La’, ‘I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)’, ‘Frontin”, ‘Allure’, and ‘Grindin”.

The night three setlist was:

‘Intro’
‘Brooklyn’s Finest’
‘Where I’m From’
‘Dirt Off Your Shoulder’
‘I Know’
‘U Don’t Know’
‘Can’t Knock the Hustle’ (with Teyana Taylor)
‘Money Ain’t a Thang’ (with Jermaine Dupri)
‘Seen It All'(with Jeezy)
‘Go Crazy’ (with Jeezy)
‘Hola’ Hovito’
‘Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)’ (with Usher)
‘Throwback / Part II (On the Run)’ (with Usher)
‘Never Change’
‘Song Cry’
‘Izzo (H.O.V.A.)’
‘Beach Is Better’
‘Fuckwithmeyouknowigotit’
‘N**** What, N**** Who (Originator 99)’
No Church in the Wild’ (with The‐Dream)
‘Clique’
‘Run This Town’ (with Rihanna)
‘Bitch Better Have My Money’ (with Rihanna)
Dead Presidents’
‘Can I Live’
‘Girls, Girls, Girls / ’03 Bonnie & Clyde’
’99 Problems’
‘Jigga My N****’ (with Swizz Beatz)
‘On to the Next One’ (with Swizz Beatz)
‘Ain’t No N****’
‘Excuse Me Miss’ (with Pharrell Williams)
‘La La La’ (with Pharrell Williams)
‘I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)’ (with Pharrell Williams)
‘Frontin” (with Pharrell Williams)
‘Allure’ (with Pharrell Williams)
‘Grindin” (with Clipse & Pharrell Williams)
‘Drunk in Love’ (with BeyoncĂ©)
‘N***** in Paris / Big Pimpin’
‘Public Service Announcement’
‘Empire State of Mind’
‘New York’ (Ja Rule cover, with Fat Joe)
‘Lucifer’
‘Dirt Off Your Shoulder’
‘Encore’

The three shows at the Yankee Stadium come on the heels of Jay-Z revealing that he will be hitting London later this year as part of another trio of gigs celebrating his 30-year legacy.

He announced concerts in Paris and Los Angeles, set for September 10 and October 23, before confirming a show at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Friday September 4. The latter will mark his first concert in the UK in over a decade – and you can find your tickets here.

Last month the rapper returned to the stage for a rare solo performance, headlining Roots Picnic 2026 as his first festival date in seven years. That set also saw him take aim at Nicki Minaj, Drake, Kanye West and more in a freestyle.

For a while now, there have been rumours that he is is working on a the follow-up to his last album, 2017’s ‘4:44’. Despite speculation, though, friend and collaborator Cash Cobain recently dismissed hopes and said that the rapper told him recently that he is “absolutely not dropping an album” anytime soon (via Variety).

The rapper will be releasing one new song with Eminem and Rakim, though, and it will be their first partnership in  25 years and feature on the latter’s upcoming album, due out on August 28.

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