Photo: Roc Nation
JAŸ-Z showed out on the West Coast by paying homage to the OG's who set the tone.
The veteran MC held his "JAŸ-Z 30" shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Friday, October 23, and Saturday, October 24. He began the closing night with "The Watcher 2," which was produced by Dr. Dre, followed by his "Blow The Whistle" freestyle with help from Too $hort. The night continued with more tributes to the late Nipsey Hussle. After previously wearing his infamous rollie and vest that Nip raps about on "Rap N***as," JAŸ-Z spit his verse from "On to the Next One" over the instrumental of Nip's "Last Time I Checc'd."
Later in the night, JAŸ-Z performed "Hard Knock Life" over elements of Nip's "Hussle & Motivate." He continued this trend by delivering “D’Evils” over Snoop Dogg's “Murder Was The Case." That's when Snoop himself popped out to perform his Doggystyle hit. Once the instrumental for "The Next Episode" played, Dr. Dre pulled up to the stage and performed with Snoop. They stuck around to perform other tracks like "California Love," Nuthin' but a "G" Thang" and "Still D.R.E."
The first night truly embraced Hov's celebration of his debut album Reasonable Doubt and the 25th anniversary of his sixth studio album, The Blueprint. He invited his daughter, Blue Ivy, to play the piano for songs like "Dead Presidents" and "The Story of O.J.” followed by special guest Scarface, who performed "This Can't Be Life" and Geto Boys' "Mind Playing Tricks on Me." He closed out the night with DJ Khaled and John Legend, who helped him perform "God Did."
Plenty of celebrities were in the crowd watching JAŸ-Z perform. Kendrick Lamar was spotted entering SoFi Stadium on night one, while Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams partied together in their private suite during the concert. Other artists like Rihanna, Wale, and more were seen turning up in the audience. Toward the end of the show on the second night, JAŸ-Z addressed the hate he gets online and the dangers of AI.
“Y’all gotta be very aware what’s going on in the world, right?" he said. "People will tell you that nobody was in here tonight, but you got eyes, you can see. People will tell you that the music wasn’t great, but you got ears... Question everything in this world of AI.”
See more moments from JAŸ-Z's two nights in Los Angeles below.