Reports say the Super Bowl LXI halftime show could be next for Jay-Z, who played the same Los Angeles venue on Friday.
Jay-Z played the first of two headlining nights at Inglewood's SoFi Stadium on Friday, October 23, running through about two hours of hits from across his catalogue. The show is part of his yearlong Jay-Z 30 celebration, timed to the 30th anniversary of Reasonable Doubt and the 25th anniversary of The Blueprint. In September, HBO premiered an eight-part docuseries in which he went through his songwriting with producer Rick Rubin.
The Hollywood Reporter noted that it had been close to a decade since Jay-Z last played a full solo concert in the city. Soon after taking the stage, he told the crowd about the gap:
"I've been away too long."
The set opened with Hovi Baby and moved through Run This Town, Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem), Lucifer and 99 Problems. Billboard counted 33 songs in the setlist.
His daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, played keys on The Story of O.J.. Variety noted that she had also played on Feelin' It at Yankee Stadium.
Scarface, the veteran Houston MC, joined him for This Can't Be Life and for Mind Playing Tricks on Me, the Geto Boys track. The two traded compliments before parting. "Jay-Z is a killer," said Scarface, whom Jay-Z hailed as "one of the best writers of any genre."
The night closed with God Did, which DJ Khaled and John Legend joined him to perform. Variety reported that the song originally also featured Fridayy, Lil Wayne and Rick Ross.
Friday's guest list was quieter than New York's, where Jay-Z's shows drew surprise guests including Eminem, Rihanna, Nas, Usher and his wife Beyoncé. Many in the audience had been anxiously awaiting Beyoncé, who did not perform with him on Friday, the Los Angeles Times wrote.
The bigger question of the weekend sat outside the set. Reports say Jay-Z may have recommended himself to headline the Super Bowl LXI halftime show, which also takes place at SoFi Stadium. He did not reference the reports on Friday, THR noted. The Los Angeles Times wrote that Jay-Z was expected to announce a return to SoFi in February to headline the halftime show.
Billboard reported that as of Saturday afternoon the speculation remained unconfirmed.
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