The fact that Jay-Z and Eminem announced their historic concert during America’s favorite pastime is the clearest indication that hip-hop is inextricably intertwined into the very fabric of this nation.
The music moguls announced they will perform a pair of concerts together in each other’s hometowns during the Detroit Tigers-New York Yankees double-header baseball game in Detroit yesterday. Even the television game announcers, two middle-aged white guys from middle America, were giddy over the announcement.
The Jigga Man and Slim Shady were cheered wildly by the tens of thousands of baseball fans in attendance. Many of the game’s most famous players, including superstar Alex Rodriguez, anxiously posed for pictures with the two hip-hop heavyweights. And even Jim Leland, a grizzly sort who is pushing 70 years of age, delighted in the rappers’ appearance.
Here’s another indication that rap rules American music and popular culture like never before; Hov and Eminem will play the very first concert at the brand new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx in September. That a pair of rappers will christen the beloved and world-famous Yankee Stadium would have been an unthinkable and impossible circumstance 20 years ago.
A couple of weeks before that, the two will perform a concert on Sept. 2 in Comerica Park.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime set of shows, and I know we’re both really going to bring it to our hometowns,” Eminem said. “The fans are going to love this and so am I. It’s going to be historic.”
The pair also combined their brand names on the popular DJ Hero video game that debuted earlier this year. –terry shropshire
