Jay Z and JT’s performance was something like cabaret on crack with a snapback. After watching Nas completely own the stage and enforce the rawness of real rugged rhymes and hip hop, I was possessed by the question: How would Jay Z top that?
Nas gave the kind of performance which inevitably brought up comparisons between him and Jigga; you could catch the chitter chatter in the crowd too, the word Ether was overheard a few times. The respect he earned from a really culturally diverse crowd was admirable and the emotion he emulated was summed up when he whispered the last 8 bars of One Mic, sending shivers down the spines of every observer. Nas’ set was bare compared to the feast of bright red decor and the assortment of instrument players Jay Z had spread out for his performance. Jay Z had 3 hours to play with (shared with JT) while Nas was probably on for just under an hour. The drama, the theatre, the deliberately and perfectly prepared set-list was so fluid and took the Wireless Festival by storm. Yet he is just a rapper, right? He’s still just a man on stage with a microphone. But he’s just different. Jay Z doesn’t have sprint around the stage to lap up the attention or the excitement of the audience; he can stay in one spot and with one look of sincerity on the big screen could capture anybody’s mind.
The suave, cigar-smoking, sophisticated manner was complimented tremendously well by Justin Timberlake who looked like he was genuinely happy to just be there. Yes Nas earned respect but Jay Z earned a whole different level of human affection; the content of his music is so beautifully poised between commercially acceptable and down-to-earth realness that he leaves little room for anyone to dislike it. That’s the difference. With Nas you’re only really going to appreciate it if you’re a true hip hop head who knows about the classics of decades past. Jay Z’s music surpasses any genre, it levitates above any language barriers and tenderly twists any criticism for the culture into favourable praise. It’s not unusual to hear someone say ‘Well I don’t really like rap or hip hop but I’m a Jay Z fan’. That doesn’t mean Jay Z doesn’t create hip hop or isn’t a rapper, it simply means he has positioned himself so pin-pointedly precisely in the market that what he creates is too complex to put into a category or a box and therefore it appeals en masse. There’s an element of humility to his branding and his presence on stage; he didn’t come dressed in a gold encrusted curtain or a towel like I envisaged Kanye may have done. His attire was classic hip hop; plain white T shirt, black bottoms, white trainers and a cap on back to front. He did wear a tuxedo for ‘Suit and Tie’ but that was obviously in parallel with the song and the way he wore it slightly untidily as if to say ‘I ain’t really comfortable in this but i’ll give it a go’.
The other day I made a comment that Jay Z would have been crowned the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) a long time ago if he had more aggressive content in his lyrics. After last night’s performance and taking some time to reflect I think I would like to alter my opinion. It’s in fact the choice that Sean Carter made to not focus on the negative or illegal portion of his life which enabled him to strive and survive in this treacherous terrain they call the music business. There are allusions and references to drug dealing and life in Brooklyn scattered across his music but it is rarely the centre-piece, they are simply quick reminders of where he came from. Jay Z just thinks differently, he can draw darkness on a piece of music more artistically, more cinematically without the need to explicitly explore it through words. I don’t think that necessarily means he is holding back, I just feel that he thinks by taking more of a painter’s approach to negativity he can benefit himself as well as the art form. It is this pure brilliance and artistic intelligence combined with a funky, positive and bouncy outlook on life which makes him a household name and which makes people view him as a friend. That sounds strange but I really do think his fans see him as a friend and that is for a multitude of reasons. One is that he steers away from ‘gangsta’ material which increases his longevity and loyalty because his content becomes more relatable and relevant to broader society.
Listening to Jay Z’s music today I was trying to figure out the solution to a frustratingly simple question: ‘What does Jay Z rap about?’ . The answer I came up with is nothing. There is no definition, there’s no box or title to pin him to, there’s no colour or flavour you can attach to the man’s art. He’s somewhat like the white noise when your TV aerial breaks down. Somewhere hidden in that is a compliment and somewhere hidden in the brain of Sean Carter there’s a recipe for his success or on his bookshelf a ‘Guide to Being Jay Z for Dummies’. We can either keep second-guessing, we can hate on his success or we can throw our diamonds up and chant Hova; I know what I’m doing. I’ll see you on tour Mr Z.
Written by Riky Bains [@RikyBains1]
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