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Jay-Z Closes VMAs With Alicia Keys

With the VMAs taking place in his hometown, it was only fitting that Jay-Z closed out MTV's annual awards show. The Brooklyn rapper was shown walking through the bowels of Radio City Music Hall as Alicia Keys played the piano intro to 'Empire State of Mind,' a track off the just-released 'Blueprint 3,' before he walked onstage to the delight of the crowd.

As the epic tribute to New York built up, Keys left her piano, which was decorated to look like the city's skyline, to get front and center with Jay-Z. The duo gave a powerful performance as images from the city, including the Brooklyn bridge and Yankee Stadium, flashed on the screen behind them. It appeared as though the entire audience was up and dancing, and Jay's wife, Beyonce, was seen singing along to Keys' part.

The song ended with yet another uninvited rapper getting onstage. This time, New York native Lil Mama wandered out and stood next to Jay-Z and Keys as they wrapped the performance. It certainly wasn't as epic a moment as Kanye's earlier appearance, but it does make us wonder one thing -- who the heck was in charge of security tonight?

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George Lass

The Jay-Z/Keys finale knocked my socks off - and Beyoncé won me over completely by being clearly every bit as thrilled as I was to hear Keys belting so beautifully. I didn't even know Alicia could do that... and, despite Beyoncé's earlier graciousness with Taylor Swift, I was still impressed to the point of being surprised that she could take such joy in another female artist's stunning work when they have a good deal of market overlap. Lovely all around, and I'll be listening to that track again.

Lil Mama wandering up was weird, though. Heh.

September 15 2009 at 7:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to George Lass's comment
babytoni1997

y did lil mama go on stage.

October 03 2009 at 10:28 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply