It has been one month since he performed 'God Did' with DJ Khaled at The Grammy Awards and the visionary billionaire music mogul makes a return with a concert in Paris celebrating the legacies of visual artists Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. This will be Jay Z's first show in Paris since his co-headline, 'On The Run Tour 2' in 2018 with Beyonce. With countless records, rewards and commendation, Jay no longer needs to prove that 'legends never die', a long-lasting trailblazing tenure has earned him his title. His love for the art world and renowned artists Andy Warhol and Basquiat especially has been brewing for a while now. From his art collection, to his fashion and choice of hairstyle, it is clear that there are elements of Jay Z's appearance that make subtle references to the Icon Jean-Michel Basquiat. The concert will kick off at 21:00pm (BST) at the Auditorium of The Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris and Jay Z will be the first to introduce 160 canvas collaborations by the two artists as well as other collaborative documents that will feature in over 300 items. The announcement was made in both French and English by Jay Z's multi-hyphenate entertainment company, Roc Nation.
Jay Z has always spoken of Warhol and Basquiat in such high regard and has never shy'd away from bragging about the two artists making reference in his 2008 song 'Ain't I,' featuring Timberland, he rapped "I got Warhols on my halls walls, I got Basquiats in the lobby of my spot/ I'm so sophisticatedly hood, S. Carter cashmere premium goods."
And again, in 2011, 'Illest Motherf*cker Alive' featuring Ye (formerly Kanye West), "when I say it then you see, it ain't only in the music, Basquiat, Warhols serving as my muses, my house like a museum so I see 'em when i'm peeing, usually you have this much taste, you European."
The exhibition called Painting Four Hands, follows The Foundation's 2018 retrospective. It expands on Basquiat's collaborations with Warhol over the course of fewer than two years. It's no secret that the two artists had a rocky relationship with majority of their shared moments being inseparable to others not speaking at all for an extended period. Not only will the concert be an unmissable marker in history but according to The Louis Vuitton foundation the exhibition itself was described by them as "The most important exhibition ever dedicated to this extraordinary body of work, bringing together more than 300 works and documents including 160 canvases jointly signed by the two artists.
Ultimately, this concert isn't just visionary and groundbreaking for Jay's career but it also sets a standard of innovation for a musician looking at ways to keep your audience waiting in anticipation, sparking new ways to intertwine art and music. It's not often that you would see a rapper paying tribute to visual artists and this isn't the first time Jay has blended live performance with visual art. In 2013, he enlisted visual artists across mediums to participate in his project, Picasso Baby: A performance Art Film. Forging alliances with major luxury brands such as Tiffany & Co is something Jay Z the entrepreneur has mastered, who in their last campaign with Jay Z and Beyonce in 2021 "About Love" featured a rarely seen Basquiat "Equals Pi"
After performing at The Grammy's in his last major performance he mentioned to Tidal that after his multi year hiatus, he had a great need to perform on music's biggest stage "I thought about it, I was in my head and I just broke down and said, you know, it's a four-minute verse.' Again , for the culture, for Hip Hop, we got to do that, " He said.
Tickets are available now for €140 EUR.
