Jay-Z performed a rehearsal show on Saturday night at Nokia Theater, prior to his Sunday night Radio City Music Hall Show (which sounds like it was amazing). Both celebrating the 10th anniversary of his debut album, Reasonable Doubt. There were plenty of cameras in the audience, apparently most being used to videotape parts of the show (likely because any sort of flash would have reflected off a Jay Z's sequined shirt).
The above clip (from Saturday) shows the orchestra he had backing him up (dubbed The Hustler Orchestra). Wes describes the moment captured: "Highlight of the night was a new freestyle at the end of Twenty Two Twos called Fourty Four Fours where he dropped the word 'four' 44 times in a rhyme and ended it with: "that's fourty four four motherfuckers and I'm nice."
Notice he says "champagne" in the beginning. Cristal is so over. Speaking of which, Frederic Rouzaud, president of Cristal, has just responded to Jay-Z's anti-Cristal statement with his own, stating, "I welcome this opportunity to set the record straight and express our gratitude that people from a diversity of cultures and countries have been enjoying our wine for so long and have allowed us to prosper since 1776.”
Here are some great photos of the orchestra rehearsing for the Radio City show.




Jay Z reviews? Wow this is pretty sad.
I really want to know exactly what Cristal rep said. If he said those words (the original statement that started this), they were pathetically offensive and stupid. However, I've been misquoted at least slightly in EVERY one of the few interviews I've had myself, so I know that it's also possible he said something else and this is the product of an inaccurate or lazy writer on a deadline.
Since it's going to impact their business now, Cristal should get the writer to release the recording of this interview.
Cristal article in the Economist:
http://www.economist.com/intelligentlife/luxury/displayStory.cfm?story_id=6905921
Tom Scharpling went to this on Sunday. Maybe he'll talk about it on The Best Show.
>Notice he says "champagne" in the beginning. Cristal is so over.
You know what would be really great, if this lesson were enough to get most rappers to tone down all the materialist crap in their song.
"Hey, you know what, this expensive champagne actually tastes like pee, let's just get some beers and save our money for something worthwhile"