Jay-Z at the Barclays Center: or Every Generation Gets the Hova It Deserves
But what kind of a climax was it? Was it one of those great, totally satisfying kinds? Explosive in its perfection? Or was it one of those disappointing, anti-climaxes, with a ton of lead-up that just then kind of fades out? Well, sadly, it was kind of the latter. Despite all the shout-outs to Brooklyn, the Marcy Houses, Bruce Ratner (yup) and the Dodgers, it kind of all felt rote and lacked the spontaneity and energy that the crowd wanted. I mean, it was great that Jay did a tribute to Biggie, but, well, I WANTED A HOLOGRAM. That would have been awesome. That would have been exciting. Instead, it was just Biggie’s face on a silk cloth. How is that more exciting than Coachella?
Personally, I was most excited by the appearance of Big Daddy Kane and his dancers, Scoob Lover and Scrap Lover, who came out during the encore and danced like it was 1995. It made me realize a couple of things, one of which is that Big Daddy Kane is not that young anymore but can still almost do a split, but another was that Jay-Z just doesn’t move that much when he’s on stage by himself. Which is fine, I guess, it’s just not his thing. But since it was just him up there for almost the whole two hour show, the energy level never reached the heights that it could have if he had tried to physically engage us, or do anything more than assure the crowd that we were all “geniuses” who just needed to “find our genius” and run with it.
As I walked out of the Barclays Center that night, I told my friend (I’ll call him En Fuego) “That’s not true, you know. At all. Most people aren’t geniuses.” I mean, Jay-Z is a genius. What he has accomplished in his life is unparalleled. But I guess I wish he could do a split too. Even geniuses are disappointing sometimes.
And if he brings out a Biggie hologram at one of these other shows? I’m going to be PISSED.
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