The record Jay-Z set on Friday night at Yankee Stadium? He broke it himself the very next day. Saturday’s Blueprint Anniversary show drew 45,832 tickets sold, topping the already massive number from the night before and making back-to-back record-breaking nights at the same venue.
Night two brought out Eminem to run through “Love The Way You Lie” and “Renegade,” plus Pharrell Williams for a stretch that covered “Excuse Me Miss,” “Frontin,” “I Just Wanna Love U,” and “Allure.” The crowd watching all of this included Dave Chappelle, Jayson Tatum, Gabrielle Union, Coco Jones, Joe Budden, and The Dream.
Friday’s crowd was no less star-studded, with Kevin Hart, LeBron James, Megan Thee Stallion, Fabolous, and Leonardo DiCaprio all in the building. Two consecutive nights, two completely different celebrity guest lists, which says something about the cultural pull this residency has had.
The first night had its own set of moments that are still being talked about. Jay-Z opened with a video of Beyoncé cutting his hair, then later brought out his daughter Blue Ivy Carter to play piano while he performed “Feelin’ It.” That alone would have been enough to make headlines for a week.
Then came Nas. The two have one of the most documented beefs in rap history, and watching them share a stage for a medley of “The World Is Yours,” “Dead Presidents,” and “N.Y. State of Mind” was the kind of moment that felt genuinely earned rather than manufactured. Alicia Keys, Jaz-O, and Memphis Bleek also appeared on night one, rounding out a guest list that read like a timeline of Jay-Z’s career.
Jay-Z also continued a freestyle tradition he started at the Roots Picnic earlier this year, using the moment to weigh in on things happening in real time. One of those things is the ongoing controversy around his partnership with Target, which has drawn criticism from some corners of the internet. His response was direct: “I don’t listen to Twitter activists, they type, and I laugh at them / It’s really no comparison.”
Not everyone has been comfortable with that partnership, and the criticism has been vocal enough that Jay-Z felt the need to address it twice across the two nights. Some fans have pushed back on the Target deal as conflicting with his public image and past statements, while others have argued that his business decisions are his own and that the backlash is overblown.
He also tackled the broader “sellout” label head-on, and did it with the kind of deadpan that tends to land better than a long explanation ever would. “They say I sold out,” he told the crowd. “Yeah, I did sell out. Three nights. I sold Yankee Stadium the hell out.” The line got the reaction you’d expect.
With a third night still on the schedule, the question now is what he does to top two record-breaking shows in a row.
