V festival, Weston Park, Staffordshire
The first performance of material from his latest album 4:44 draws on inner conflict for a hypnotic, electric set – and ends with a tribute to Chester Bennington
He’s the king of rap; there is none higher. Not Kanye, spinning ever further from reality and into “Reality”. Not Drake, too caught up in his own heartbreaks to harbour ambitions for the throne. And not his former rival Nas, nor any of the other pretenders who have proved they lack Hov’s stamina. Because for two decades, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter has treated his career like a marathon, not a sprint, transitioning from bullet-holed Marcy Projects crack-dealer to respected MC, business mogul and music industry player. In his own words, a businessman and, also, a business, man.
Tonight he walks on to a sparsely decorated stage – just lights and a 40-foot-tall, metallic Jeff Koons inflatable dog, appropriately for the man who once rapped “Jeff Koons balloons / I just wanna blow up” – with hood pulled over his baseball cap, face hidden, launching into a five-track blitz from his latest album, the dark, often brilliant 4:44. It’s an uncompromising move, in stark contrast to his legendary Glastonbury 2008 set when, goaded by Noel Gallagher’s jibes that hip-hop had no place at Worthy Farm, he delivered a force-nine display of stagecraft, covering Wonderwall and stealing the weekend.
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