Jay-Z Blows Us Away At Coachella

by Rachelle Hruska · April 17, 2010

Go HERE for more photos from GofG's Gallery from Jay-Z's performance at Coachella 2010 last night.

Jay-Z blew us away last night at Coachella. The first hip hop artist to headline Coachella, he brought out mixes of everything from Oasis to Aerosmith to U2 for his overwhelmingly white and stoned audience. Perhaps the most modern artist I've seen live, the guy, who went on right after LCD soundsystem and who performed such an incredibly "made-for-Coachella-2010" set, clearly gets it.

And, even before "the best girl in the game," his girl Beyonce, took the stage to perform their version of "Forever Young" (leaving us all contemplating the potentials of our own relationships), Jay-Z was grinning from ear to ear. This was a big night for him, both professionally and personally, I imagine. And, as this kid from the projects spent more time than necessary trying to personally connect with individual audience members giving shout outs from the stage to:"That girl in the gray hoodie standing next to the dude with the marijuana hat on, yep you, you. My babygirl over there with the philly hat and red shirt on, you. My brother in the back with the yellow hoodie, you.", etc. etc.; and then the crowds resounding approval in the form of thousands and thousands of hand-made diamond signs in the air (an extrodinary example of Jay-Z's genius branding), and screams, and roars, and exhibitionist acts in all shapes and forms.....you couldn't help but think that the joke was on us. Moreover, be moved.