{"id":639999,"date":"2026-10-24T13:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T13:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/639999\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T13:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T13:08:11","slug":"jay-z-brings-out-blue-ivy-dj-khaled-at-los-angeles-sofi-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/639999\/","title":{"rendered":"Jay-Z Brings Out Blue Ivy, DJ Khaled at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\u201cCan I take you to my home for a second?\u201d asked Jay-Z<\/a> as he led into \u201cEmpire State of Mind\u201d during the first of two headlining shows at Inglewood, California\u2019s SoFi Stadium. Thus, he did, as he\u2019d been doing for the past hour-and-a-half, bringing Brooklyn to Los Angeles as he traced the corners of his vast discography, the backbone of a career that stretches 30 years with countless hits to match.<\/p>\n

\n\tJay touched down on the West Coast for an invigorated set Friday night as part of his yearlong \u201cJay-Z 30\u201d celebration, which began with a one-off headlining show at Philadelphia\u2019s Roots Picnic in late May. What followed were three back-to-back sold-out nights at Yankee Stadium, plus shows in London and Paris, and a robust eight-episode HBO docuseries breaking down the finer points of his catalog. Given all the chatter that Jay may have booked himself for Super Bowl 2027 as the Halftime Show performer \u2014 which would make sense, considering a year of unusually high activity nearly a decade after he released his last album \u2014 it was hard not to consider Friday\u2019s concert as a test run for what could potentially be the biggest performance on the biggest stage this coming February. (After all, the Super Bowl is taking place in the same venue where he performed.)<\/p>\n

\n\tAs he\u2019s consistently shown, Jay was in mint condition as he ran through hit after hit after hit at SoFi across a two-hour set, toggling the setlist of previous shows while keeping the focus centered on the electricity between himself, the audience and his band. Fans have, of course, come to expect high-wattage surprise stars: At his Yankee Stadium shows, he coronated the 25th and 30th anniversaries of \u201cThe Blueprint\u201d and \u201cReasonable Doubt,\u201d respectively, with cameos from his wife Beyonc\u00e9, Rihanna, Eminem and his daughter Blue Ivy Carter<\/a>, to name just a few.<\/p>\n

\n\tHis SoFi show, meanwhile, felt pared-down with purpose. There were few guest stars throughout the night, with Blue Ivy playing the keys on \u201cThe Story of OJ\u201d and \u201cDead Presidents,\u201d a shift from when she tickled the ivories on \u201cFeelin\u2019 It\u201d at Yankee Stadium. Scarface came out for \u201cThis Can\u2019t Be Life\u201d as well as his own classic \u201cMind Playing Tricks on Me.\u201d John Legend and DJ Khaled emerged for the night\u2019s closer, \u201cGod Did,\u201d a song that originally also featured Fridayy, Lil Wayne and Rick Ross.<\/p>\n

\n\t(As an aside, having witnessed the very rare performance of \u201cThis Can\u2019t Be Life,\u201d I can\u2019t help but note that Scarface\u2019s verse is one of the most moving I\u2019ve ever heard on a rap song. Listen if you haven\u2019t, immediately<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\n\tAmid the talking points surrounding Jay\u2019s potential Halftime Show has been the question of whether or not he can carry a performance of that magnitude without bringing out guests. And by the sheer propulsion of the evening, plus the hits lining it, Jay once again reinforced that he\u2019s the star of his own show, no matter which direction it points. At 56, he is a seasoned veteran, one of the few hip-hop acts who can book stadium shows across the world after such long periods of dormancy. Consider him an elder statesman, if you will, but the bravado and showmanship that he continues to exhibit feel like more than a decent justification for his continued relevance, despite what any detractor on the Internet might deign to claim.<\/p>\n

\n\tJay comes from a time when success was predicated mainly on skill, with business acumen running hand in hand alongside it. It\u2019s why he managed to build an empire around his own talents, and why fans continue to show up by the thousands to behold them. The SoFi show was no exception, a dexterous display of lyrical acuity and magnetism that jolted to life with opener \u201cHovi Baby\u201d and gave way to tracks like \u201cIzzo (H.O.V.A.)\u201d and \u201cRun This Town.\u201d Many of the visuals were the same as his Yankee Stadium shows, right down to the opening shot of Beyonc\u00e9 shaving his head, yet they still felt elevated and unique to his performance, building out the world of tracks like \u201cSong Cry\u201d and \u201cLucifer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s likely that Jay will pull out all the stops for the final night of his \u201cJay-Z 30\u201d tour on Saturday night. (Fans clocked Beyonc\u00e9, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams having a Destiny\u2019s Child reunion in one of the SoFi suites on Friday.) But if his first performance was any indication, Jay is up to the task, no matter how big the platform.<\/p>\n

\n\tCheck out the full setlist below:<\/p>\n

\n\tHovi Baby
Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
Beach Is Better
FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt
N\u2014a What, N\u2014a Who (Originator 99)
Run This Town
The Story of O.J. (with Blue Ivy Carter)
Dead Presidents (with Blue Ivy Carter)
Where I\u2019m From
Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)
Lucifer
No Church In the Wild
Can I Live
Family Feud
U Don\u2019t Know
On to the Next One
Clique
Dirt Off Your Shoulder
I Know
Never Change
This Can\u2019t Be Life (with Scarface)
Mind Playing Tricks on Me (with Scarface)
Song Cry
99 Problems
Girls, Girls, Girls
Excuse Me Miss \/ La-La-La (Excuse Me Miss Again)
Change the Game
Give It to Me \/ Money, Cash, Hoes
Jigga My N\u2014a
Heart of the City (Ain\u2019t No Love)
Empire State of Mind
N\u2014s in Paris \/ Big Pimpin\u2019
God Did (with DJ Khaled and John Legend)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cCan I take you to my home for a second?\u201d asked Jay-Z as he led into \u201cEmpire State…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[249978,156,22613,157,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-639999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-blue-ivy-carter","tag-entertainment","tag-jay-z","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}