Subscribe
The Daily Grind Video
CLOSE

Pulling into the parking lot of the Bank Atlantic Center there was already a serious party vibe…basses rumbling the pavement, grills gleaming from five parking spots away. More like a party than a concert, everyone is decked out, dressed to impress, trying to stunt harder than the person sitting next to them. I know from experience it only goes down this way in Miami. Although, I’m from the Big Apple I went to college at the University of Miami, so I’ve earned my Dade County stripes.
An insane crowd of hip hop fans came through showing their love and support from the parking lot to their seats. Trey Songz, Young Jeezy and Jay-Z were the artists on the line up to shut it down Miami style for the opening night of Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 tour. As you can imagine – it was pure madness. Girls were sporting South Beach nightlife attire like stilettos and skin-tight leopard print dresses. The dudes were rocking head-to-toe white Polo, bedazzled Haiti relief tees and exclusive kicks. But what I really couldn’t get over was how people were lining up to pose in front of an airbrushed graffiti background and actually pay to take the pics home with them—no offense to anyone, it’s just not my thing.
Trey opened the show with some old and some new tracks. When he went to sit down onto a stool during the opening verse of ‘Neighbors Know my Name’ and slid backwards he totally missed the seat. 
Yes – he busted his….
As you can imagine, all that stumble did was make every girl want to go home with him even more – to help heal his wounds – of course. It was kind of embarrassing, but he made falling look smooth and sexy, just another reason every girl wants a piece of him. Yes – I’m a fan!
After Trey Songz wrapped his set,  my crew and I waited for Jeezy to shut it down, but the next thing I knew Jay hit the stage. Dressed in all black everything, his stage set looked like the NY skyline.  During his set Jay-Z threw his scarf to a girl in the front row, asked her if she spoke English, and then told her to swing it around while he performed ‘Big Pimpin.’ The chick spoke English but I was glad he asked, you never know in Miami—we get it in from everywhere. 
He went on to perform his famous tracks such as Run This Town, Empire State of Mind, Dirt off Your Shoulder, D.O.A., 99 Problems, and a load of others spanning his entire career, with Memphis Bleek as his hype man.
[pagebreak]
I was totally OK with the fact that I actually paid for this concert—it was more like an experience, so it was worth it.
Half way through his set Jay got to ‘Real As It Gets’ when Jeezy finally came out of the floor surprising fans and killed it as expected. Jeezy performed his set in the middle of the show, breaking up Jay’s performance. Yeah this was the BP3 tour but as soon as Jeezy showed up on stage every fan that was sitting jumped out of their seats and started rapping every word so hard like they believed in it.
Everyone loves Jay-Z, his fan base is crazy passionate and as diverse as you can get. I’m a New York native, so seeing him take the stage, I felt right at home. Jay-Z has become one of the main artists besides Lil Wayne who has seriously bridged the gap between white and black music. But in Miami, there’s a serious love and sense of respect for a rapper like Young Jeezy. Yeah of course the fans loved Jay-Z, but there was definitely a more intense vibe throughout Jeezy’s set.