Jay-Z has announced an immersive pop-up experience taking place at London’s Trafalgar Square this week, which follows on from him opening a pop-up shop in Camden.
Both new events come in celebration of the rapper bringing his massive ‘JAŸ-Z 30’ world tour to the UK later this week – where he will headline Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 4 and 5.
At the shows, he will continue to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his huge album ‘The Blueprint’, and also look back at his three decades of releasing music.
Last week (August 27), Jay-Z launched an exclusive JAŸ-Z 30 pop-up experience at the UMusic Shop in Camden. That included a range of limited-edition merchandise created specifically for the UK shows, as well as DJ sets every night between 5-7pm.
Sets so far have come from DJ Target, DJ Manny Norté, DJ Semtex and DJ Esi, and the Camden shop is open until tomorrow (September 2) at The Stables Market, Chalk Farm Road.
Now, as well as the Camden store, Jay-Z is also launching an immersive installation in London’s Trafalgar Square to celebrate the upcoming gigs in the UK capital.
Open now (Tuesday September 1) until Saturday (September 5), the large-scale installation will feature televisions from the era, and screen music videos, performances and period programming.
The purpose of the installation is to transport fans back to 2001, when he dropped ‘The Blueprint’, and also celebrate his 30-year-long impact on the music industry. There will also be a range of limited edition merchandise on offer too which, like the Camden store.
From now until Saturday, the event will be available at Trafalgar Square between 11am and 7pm. Find out more here.
Jay-Z’s shows kicked off with three nights at Yankee Stadium in New York City that featured Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Usher, Eminem, Nas, Pharrell Williams, Rihanna, Slick Rick, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Teyana Taylor and many more as surprise guests.
After the London shows, the rapper will head to Paris on September 10, before going back across the pond for gigs in Los Angeles on October 23 and 24. Visit here for tickets.
For a while now, there has been speculation that he is working on the follow-up to his last album – 2017’s ‘4:44’ – however, friend and collaborator Cash Cobain has dismissed rumours and said that the rapper told him recently that he is “absolutely not dropping an album” anytime soon (via Variety).
Jay-Z recently dropped a new song with Eminem and Rakim, though – their first partnership in 25 years – and also delivered his first original rap verse in four years on a new remix of Beyoncé’s ‘Morning Dew (Donk)’.
A new docuseries about Jay-Z has been confirmed for a MUBI release, too, and it will see the rapper digging back into his catalogue while in conversation with Rick Rubin about his life, career, and music.
