Jay-Z crowned king of Kinross-shire

Jul 13 2010 by Johnathon Menzies, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

HIP-HOP legend Jay-Z underlined his reputation as modern-day music royalty during a masterful performance on the final day of T in the Park.

Brooklyn’s finest captivated thousands of fans congregated around the festival’s main stage, putting on the sort of show that will unquestionably go down in festival folklore.

Instantly recognisable tracks from 2009 record The Blueprint III, including Run This Town, the anthemic Empire State of Mind and D.O.A, received a rapturous reception from many relatively-recent converts to his work.

Playfully, the 40-year-old media mogul announced: “I like how this is going, you’ve turned it up to 10 – but this is T in the Park, so we're gonna turn it up to 99” before unleashing 99 Problems, complete with foul-mouthed, sing-a-long chorus.

Those fond of his back-catalogue were treated to the likes of I Just Wanna Love You (Give it to Me) and H to the Izzo, dating back to 2000 and 2001 respectively.

Rumours that the multi-millionaire rapper, who is part-owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball side, would be joined on-stage by his better half Beyonce Knowles, sadly, proved unfounded.

Constantly smiling and feeding off his adoring audience, the engaging performer removed his trademark black sunglasses and strolled across the stage at points, giving ‘shout-outs’ to individual members of the crowd.

Flanked by a live band and backing singers, moments like this underline the point that top-notch hip-hop exponents can make a lasting impact in an arena more closely associated with rock music.

An opinion hammered home when the man otherwise known as Shawn Carter headlined Glastonbury in 2008.

As well as the undoubted entertainment, there were poignant periods as the marathon outing drew to a close.

Prior to penultimate track Hard Knock Life, which amusingly samples the hit musical Annie, on-lookers were instructed to make a ‘peace’ gesture towards the heavens.

The New Yorker then recited a tragically-long list of peers who’ve lost their lives, for a variety of reasons, over the years.

Christopher ‘Biggie Smalls’ Wallace, Tupac Shakur, Aaliyah and Run-DMC's Jam Master Jay were all name-checked, before the set was brought to a close with an emotionally-charged rendition of Numb/Encore.

Football fans who opted to head to Balado, instead of watching Spain triumph over the Netherlands in Sunday’s World Cup final at home on television, undoubtedly made the correct decision.