Put your back
into it: Mary J.
and Jay-Z
feel the burn.

The First Family

President Carter and Queen Mary reassert their power BY EVELYN McDONNELL

MARCH 22, 2008

AMERICAN AIRLINES ARENA, MIAMI

Fair exchange, no robbery: You paid a lot of money, and we’ve got a lot of songs,” Jay-Z assured the sold-out crowd. The man whose nickname is a derivative of Jehovah wasn’t idly boasting, either. At the Miami launch of their Heart of the City tour, Shawn Carter and Mary J. Blige delivered hit-crammed, cameo-studded sets, as if their careers hung in the balance.

Perhaps more than any other rapper of his generation, Hova has honed his live act, and his Madison Square Garden “swan song” in ²⁰⁰³ enshrined him as a capital-A artist. He always thinks in terms of events—hence the classy big-band stage setup and top-shelf guests: Kanye West, Timbaland, Young Jeezy. The three tiers on which the coheadliners made their entrance together showcased

²² musicians, including eight string players and four horns. Footage of New

York at night filled a giant screen; later, there were images of clouds, glaciers, and urban blight. But aside from a few dancers during Blige’s set and some fireworks, that was it. No lip-synching while flying from a trapeze, multiple costume changes, or hype men: Singing and rapping were the heart of this city.

They started together with his “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” he came back for her “Real Love,” and then Blige played hit after hit with scarcely a pause, like a preacher on a mission; increasingly, she’s as much gospel as R&B singer. She sang so forcefully, sweat streamed like tears and she lost an earring. Stomping and swaying and kneeling and jumping, Blige worked it hard for ⁷⁵ minutes. With the string players quickly replaced by a turntablist, Jay-Z came out rapping “Say Hello” from American Gangster. He too performed like a track star, spitting words breathlessly, stopping briefly beneath an image of George W. Bush, asking, “Ready for a change?” When a picture of Barack

Obama appeared, the crowd roared.

In some ways, the two veterans are polar opposites: Since she proclaimed “No More Drama” in ²⁰⁰¹, Blige has been singing affirmations, yet she digs deepest when expelling her pain. Jay is always trying to prove how serious he is, when really it’s his clownish showmanship that’s endearing. At this point, it’s a bit silly for this multimillionaire exec to be playing the street hustler; and too many

songs from American Gangster slowed the momentum.

The show ended with the rather anticlimactic encore duet “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love),” from Jay’s ²⁰⁰¹ classic The Blueprint. And even though both icons are in decline on the pop charts, this tour proves they still have long legs as live performers—vital in the digital era. For one night, on star power alone, they seemed ageless.

Blige sang so forcefully, sweat streamed
like tears and she lost an earring.