Jay-Z / 50 Cent / Busta Rhymes / Missy Elliott / Fabolous / Lil' Mo

Fza Dec 31, 2020

As far as Jay-Z's setlist, I am 100% positive he opened his set with an a cappella version of his one verse from the song 'A Dream' (1st track on his album 'The Blueprint 2'). It began with silence & all the stage lighting off.... it was more like he was reciting it as a poem (the cadence, the longer pauses, etc...).
[Verse]
"Had a dream, " I said, "'Bout who he said?"
"'Bout B.I.G., " I said, "That's big he said"
"Dig what he said", "Proceed, " he said
"Indeed, " I said, so, breathe I did
"Don't repeat what I say, " I said, he said nothing
He agreed with his head, he just nodded like this
What I believe to be a yes I repeated what was said
"It came to me like a whisper last evening, " I said
"What's the deal playboy?" was the greeting he said
First thing I wanted to know, what's the reason he was dead
"Mo' Money, Mo' Problems, better believe it, " he said
"Careful what you wish for you might receive it, " he said
"I see, " I said, "jealousy, " I said
"Got the whole industry mad at me, " I said
Then B.I. said, "Hov' remind yourself
Nobody built like you, you designed yourself"
"I agree, " I said, "My one of a kind self"
Get stoned every day like Jesus did
"What he said, " I said, has been said before
"Just keep doing your thing, " he said, say no more
[End verse]
Couldn't tell you what came next for his setlist... but that moment is frozen in time, in my memory. It was especially powerful & memorable because it was a version of that song that no one ever heard before. The entire audience was silent (aside from a few people doing the ol' 'Woohoo' here & there)! Overall I remember leaving with a difrerent opinion than when I went in, as far as how good a hip-hop show/concert can be. Up until that point, I attended around 15-20 live hip-hop shows, and noticed that regardless of how famous the artist was, or how many millions of records they sold, a lot of shows sounded like the artist was yelling their lyrics into the mic... or in other words, unlike live shows for other music genres, I was almost convinced that the studio version for any hip-hop music always sounded far better than when it's performed live ('The Roots' are not included... I've only heard the opposite for them). Jay-Z's performance that day single-handedly changed my mind... and though I don't remember the full setlist, I do remember how clear & crisp the sound was (for the music & lyrics alike)!