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T<\/span>he beauty of watching Jay-Z<\/a> live is more than just watching him calmly spit bars that effortlessly prove why his career has been this long and brilliant; it\u2019s also the complex but lovely feeling of watching an audience (and the artist himself) relive the past. It\u2019s almost unfathomable that 30 years ago, Jay-Z was starting out as a relatively unknown rapper from Brooklyn chronicling his life as a hustler. Quite possibly the greatest pure MC of all-time \u2013 encompassing flow, patience, humor, live ability and his taste as an auteur \u2013 Jay built a career on restrained tales of wide-eyed dreams and braggadocious stanzas about financial gain.<\/p>\n His 1996 debut album, Reasonable Doubt, <\/em>was the start of that career, and on Friday night, I\u2019m at New York City\u2019s Yankee Stadium as Jay-Z performs the album\u2019s tracks in order, front to back, making it impossible to forget its legacy in a visually stunning show that splits the difference between close connection and grand spectacle. At times, with a wide, movie-like screen backing Jay that shows funerals of presidents, footage of Mike Tyson<\/a>, or his wife, Beyonc\u00e9, cutting his hair at the ballpark, the show feels influenced by previous tours like Watch the Throne<\/a> mixed with the street romance of the 2002 movie Paid in Full. Yet the care and attention to detail ensures that the 50,000-capacity venue feels intimate, for the folks who heard the album and felt seen through its songs of regret and paranoia.<\/p>\n The show opens with Beyonc\u00e9<\/a> singing Can\u2019t Knock the Hustle, filling in for Mary J Blige<\/a>. Beyonc\u00e9 has no real connection to Reasonable Doubt outside of familial bonding but it is surprising, and successfully cute, to see her join in on one of Jay\u2019s most spirited hustler songs. Wearing a pinstriped suit, cut off at the legs like a baddie at the function, she looks startlingly hip \u2013 less fussy and in line with the urban but still grown environment of the night to come. The lush R&B of Politics As Usual, a premier example of Jay\u2019s excellent taste in beats, offers the crowd a smooth song in the midst of the evening\u2019s grimy hustler tales. Nas joins for a medley of Dead Presidents, The World Is Yours, NY State of Mind and Where I\u2019m From, with the crowd basking in the mutual respect the once-rivals have for each other\u2019s craft.<\/p>\n