Jay-Z has been in producer mode, gracing the red (and blue) carpets in London and L.A for the rollout of his movie, Black Western, “The Harder They Fall.”
At the after-party, however, the emcee in him came out and he hopped on the mic for all in attendance.
The after-party was a real celebration of the movie and its majority Black cast. Jay-Z pulled out all the stops and had a live band to entertain the guests. In a surprise for everyone there, the Roc Nation boss took to the mic for an impromptu performance. In one clip, Jay raps his freestyle on TooShort’s “Blow The Whistle” beat.
In another, he’s performing the anthem “You Don’t Know,” from “The Blueprint” album.
Here’s another of Jay-Z performing “Jigga What, Jigga Who”
It is said he “had an amazing 90-minute jam session“ with director/composer/songwriter Jeymes Samuels and his brother Seal.
The Los Angeles launch at the Shrine auditorium featured a bright blue carpet and some heavy star power, with even more celebrities attending the after-party. Jay-Z’s good friend, Kelly Rowland was there, though apparently nobody told Hov. The moment he spotted his wife’s Destiny’s Child bandmate has gone viral.
Too Short has said in the past that Jay-Z jumping on the beat with his freestyle gave the song a whole new life.
Speaking back in 2018 he said: “I think that was the last frontier of where the song was going to go. Had he not done that it might not have gone there, east coast and beyond and you know, people will play Jay-Z’s verse.”