Jay Z Reunites with Beanie Sigel, Spits TIDAL Freestyle at 'B-Sides' Concert

  /  05.17.2015

Jay Z has sold out stadiums across the globe, but he brought it back to NYC for his first of two “TIDAL X: Jay Z B-Sides” concerts at Terminal 5 on Saturday. The hip-hop icon took a trip down memory lane with B-sides, remixes, and other rarities from his 20-year catalog including “Dead Presidents,” “Blueprint (Momma Loves Me),” and “Imaginary Players.”

“I’ve been wanting to do this concert for like seven to 10 years,” he told the intimate crowd. “[But] it’s a lot of lyrics to learn, I’m just telling y’all this is really hard work. I know you think that I know these shits but it’s like a history lesson.”

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With Young Guru on the turntables, he staged a Roc-A-Fella/State Property reunion featuring Memphis Bleek, Young Gunz, Freeway, and even Beanie Sigel. Jay Electronica joined his Roc Nation boss for “Exhibit C” and a remix of Soulja Boy’s “We Made It,” while Jeezy took the stage for his own tracks, “Go Crazy” and “Who Dat.”

Hov also paid homage to the late B.B. King with a moment of silence before playing a sample of King’s classic “The Thrill Is Gone,” and honored Jimi Hendrix with his rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which he called “the first black national anthem.”

But the highlight was his 90-second freestyle that touched on everything from TIDAL’s competitors including Spotify and YouTube to the deaths of Freddie Gray and Mike Brown. See the transcript below via Billboard.

“I don’t need no middlemen to talk to my ni**as / I understand if you don’t understand I figure my ni**a / That’s where we differ / I take what’s mine you accept what they give you / I get you / I don’t take no checks / I take my respect / Pharrell even told me ‘Go with the best bet’ / Jimmy Iovine offered the safety net / Google came around with a crazy check / I feel like YouTube is the culp-a-rit /. Ni**as pay you a tenth of what you supposed to get / You know ni**a die for equal pay, right? You know what I’m worth / I ain’t your slave right / You know I ain’t shucking and jivin’ and high fivin’ / You know this ain’t back in the days right / But I can’t tell by the way they kill Freddie Gray right / Shot down / Mike Brown / Like the way they did Tray right? / Y’all gone’ keep choking’ ni**as / We gon’ turn style / I ain’t your token ni**a / You know I came in this game independent right / TIDAL / My own label / same difference / Oh ni**as is skeptical of they own shit / You bought nine iPhones and Steve Jobs is rich / Phil Knight worth trillions you still bought those kicks / Spotify’s nine billion and they ain’t say shit / ‘Lucyyy you got some splainin’ to do’ / The only one they hatin’ on look the same as you / That’s cool / I know they tryin’ to bamboozle you / Spending billions on meryin’ to confusin’ you / I had to tell myself ‘Hov, get used to it’ / It’s politics as usual.”

TIDAL X: Jay Z B-Sides Set List

Intro (American Gangster)
Young Gifted & Black
Pump It Up (Joe Budden Remix)
Streets Is Watching
Friend or Foe
Where I’m From
TIDAL Freestyle
Politics as Usual
Guess Who’s Back (Scarface)
Show You How
Jigga My Ni**a
Hovi Baby
22 Twos
U Don’t Know
A Million and One Questions (Part II)
So Ghetto
D’Evils
This Can’t Be Life
Success
Ignorant Shit
Grammy Family
Takeover
You Me Him & Her (Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Young Gunz, & Freeway)
Clique (With Roc-A-Fella crew)
We Made It (Soulja Boy Freestyle) (feat. Jay Electronica)
Exhibit C (feat. Jay Electronica and Just Blaze)
Go Crazy (feat. Jeezy)
Who Dat (feat. Jeezy)
Can I Live
In My Lifetime (Remix)
Feeling It
Imaginary Players
Dead Presidents
It’s Like That
Never Change
Allure
The Thrill Is Gone (B.B. King Tribute)
Star-Spangled Banner (Jimi Hendrix Tribute)
Public Service Announcement
Show Me What You Got (Outro)

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