Last time we saw Jay-Z at a major music festival, he was poking fun. This time, he was paying tribute. The rapper kicked off his Friday night headlining performance at All Points West by covering the band he had replaced. Backed by the familiar riffs, Jay-Z offered his own rendition of “No Sleep till Brooklyn”, first free styling why he was on the stage — “The Beastie Boys are on vacation” — before paying homage to the cancer stricken MCA by reciting his verse in the song. All in all, it’s pretty incredible stuff and something only a rapper like Jay-Z could do.
Jay-Z also took some time during his set to perform selections from the forthcoming Blueprint 3, including “Death of Auto-Tune”.
