Jay-Z Preempts 40/40 Opening With Star Studded Concert
December 30th, 2007

As Jay-Z prepares to open his latest 40/40 venture in Las Vegas, he treated the city of sin to a concert unlike any other.

Before the concert, however, there had been rumors that 40/40's doors would be closed before they ever opened. A claim that a 40/40 publicist confirmed as "not true" to HipHopDX.com.

"Everything is going on as scheduled," said the source who stated that any issues with certificates and licenses has been resolved. "We're excited for this club to finally open."

But before Jay-Z can open 24,000 square foot sports bar laced with 24k gold and platinum floors, he decided to treat Las Vegas to a concert like none other.

What was billed "An Evening With Jay-Z" turned out to be much more than that at The Pearl located in the Palms Hotel & Casino on December 29th. With celebrities such as Suge Knight, Too Short and Kevin Hart scattered in the crowd, Hov crept onto the stage in front of a sold out crowd with an 11-piece band in tow. With the Roots' ?uestlove on the drums, Just Blaze serving as DJ and backup vocals courtesy of Bilal, it was evident that this would be a pre-New Year's bash that nobody would soon forget.

As Jay raced through joints like "Hovi Baby," "Public Service Announcement," "You Don't Know," and "Party Life" (complete with Bilal serving up a smooth Curtis Mayfield rendition afterwards), he pulled some hefty tricks from out of his black button down's sleeves.

As he mumbled through the lyrics of Fabolous' "You Make Me Better," Jay-Z called for someone who could do it better than he can as Ne-Yo appeared on stage and performed that and "Because Of You." As Jay opened up to the ladies with "Excuse Me Miss," Beanie Sigel and Memphis Bleek joined him for the remix and "Change The Game." Not to be outdone, Kanye West rushed the stage to perform "Can't Tell Me Nothin" and "Good Life" as Mary J Blige followed behind to join Hov on "Song Cry" and "Can't Knock The Hustle" before rocking her new single "I'm Fine" and old favorite "Not Gonna Cry."

As if that wasn't enough, Jay closed out the show by bringing back all of his Roc-A-Fella family for an amazing closer of "Roc Boys" and "Encore" as the crowd chanted "Hova" until the artists and band left the stage.

Source-hiphopdx