Jay-Z not above shouting out to the nosebleed section

With more than 33 million albums sold, you’d think that Jay-Z would be above recognizing his fans at college-town performances. But no, Jay-Z not only rocked Champaign, he recognized and appreciated every single fan that packed the Assembly Hall on Thursday night.

With the giant spotlight taking a break from the mega-star to focus on the crowd for a few, Jay-Z sought out the fans in the nosebleed section to pay homage to them.

“You, with the Yankees hat.”

“You, with the blue shirt with the thermal underneath.”

“You, with the red shirt with all of the gold in it.”

The fans didn’t care that from where they jammed, Jay-Z and his ten-piece all male band looked like action-figure versions of themselves, but Jay-Z took the time to send an almost long-distant shout out to them, to thank them, and show his appreciation to them.

“I appreciate every single person in this building,” he said. “I don’t take it for granted. I’m not jaded.”

Following an opening performance by N.E.R.D, the co-founder of Roc-A-Fella records unlocked the show with his recent hit “Run This Town”. Selling more records than Elvis Presley, Jay-Z is arguably this generation’s king of rap and hip-hop.

The nearly 10,000 students and fans in attendance went crazy when the “king of rap” floated out of the floor of the stage; the combo of vibrations from the superior sound system and thousands of screaming fans sent vibrations through your whole body.

When Jay-Z took the floor, no one in attendance was caught in their seat. Jay-Z had incredible stage presence and control of his crowd; he said “bounce” and 10,000 people did just that, all the while holding up a diamond hand gesture with both hands that represents “Roc” and Roc-A-Fella records.

Jay-Z’s rendition of “Empire State of Mind” brought a little bit of his stomping grounds to Champaign- the elaborate lights and screens behind the stage created a perfect replicate of the Big Apple’s famous skyline. It was bumpin’.

Jarmal Davis, junior at the Art Institute in Chicago, said he enjoys Jay-Z’s music because of its honesty.

“It has meaning to it. A lot of artists out there don’t have a point,” Davis said.

The rapper ran through snippets of his most well-known songs from many of his albums. His encore performance primarily featured songs off of his “The Blueprint 3” album, including a dynamic finish with “Forever Young”. The crowd sparkled like the surface of a shallow pool as thousands of people lofted cell phones, cameras and lighters into the air, which was tinged blue from stage lights that circled the dome-shaped arena.

Davis, who works in the city, did not find out about the concert until early Thursday when a friend had to cancel and offered him the ticket. He spent two hours in traffic driving out of Chicago, and another two on the drive down to Champaign.

“It was well worth it,” Davis said. “Not a lot of people can rock Champaign. Throughout the show the place was jumpin’.”

Though this was Davis’s first concert experience, he said he did not know what to expect, but that he wasn’t disappointed. He had hoped that more fans would “be juking” during the show.

“(Jay-Z) knows how to get the crowd to participate; he’s so experienced in the field,” Davis said.

Although the rapper is part deux of one of Hip-Hop’s top-earning power couples, Jay-Z’s modesty shines through, despite his iced-out appearance, sunnies, and signature Yankees hat. After singing “Hard knock Life”, he left his fans with energizing advice.

“Don’t let no haters stand in your way,” he demanded of the crowd. “Don’t let nobody block your dreams.”