Lil Wayne Has Last Hurrah at Jay-Z’s MSG Concert

“Madison Square Garden used to be Run’s house, but now Run’s House is on MTV,” Jay-Z said to a sold-out New York City crowd on Tuesday (March 2). “Madison Square Garden is now the house that Hov built.”

Hov’s proclamation and reference to the legendary Run-DMC may raise issue with a few hip-hop purists, but most would agree through the years that Jay has claimed artistic ownership of NY’s storied arena. Returning for the first time since his 9/11 benefit concert on September 11, 2009, Jay graced the stage with Trey Songz and Young Jeezy in tow.

The R&B lothario set things off for the late arriving crowd as he ran through songs like his 2005 debut single “Gotta Make It,” and “Invented Sex,” before bringing rapper Fabolous on stage for their collaborative “Say Ahh.”

After a brief intermission, where fans were treated to a sneak peak of Absolut Vodka’s NY-Z documentary, which offers behind the scenes footage as Hov prepped for his tour, Jay emerged from a trap door below the stage to the sounds of “Run This Town.”

First he ran through some of his more recent hits like “D.O.A.” and “Empire State of Mind,” then Hova turned the stage over to Young Jeezy who absolutely floored the crowd.

Starting off with his verse from Shawty Lo’s “Dey Know” remix, Jeezy went into songs from his own catalog like “Who Dat” and “Crazy World.” From there the Snowman made way for NY native Nicki Minaj as she performed her verse from Young Money’s “Bedrock.” Then he provided the biggest thrill of the night when he brought out Drake and hip-hop’s current gingerbread man, Lil Wayne, who was scheduled to be sentenced and jailed on Riker’s Island earlier in the day, but saw his sentencing postponed due to a courthouse fire. Ironically the trio performed their collaborative banger “I’m Goin’ In.”

Jay-Z returned to the stage to perform the Obama ode, “My President” with Jeezy as he once again commandeered the stage and dedicated the rest of his set to his more classical material.

“If you came along during The Black Album we love you, but now is a good time to go home. We about to go way back,” he said as he tore through his Reasonable Doubt tracklist doing songs like “Ain’t No Nigga,” “Feelin’ It” and the crowd favorite “Can I Live.”

After the Roc Nation CEO ended with the show closing “Encore,” he dipped below the stage via an elevator prop, the house light’s came on and the crowd filed out of Hov’s house.