Jay-Z Takes Cameras Behind His 9/11 Benefit in "NY-Z"

The new mini-documentary NY-Z captures one of the biggest shows of 2009 — Jay-Z's September 11th Answer the Call concert at New York's Madison Square Garden — and the hours leading up to the big performance. Shot in black-and-white like iconic Big Apple odes Manhattan and The Naked City, director Danny Clinch's short doubles as a behind-the-scenes look at Jay-Z's life and the rapper's love letter to the city that serves as his "muse," from his earliest recollections of NYC to how it feels to sell out "the World's Greatest Arena."

In the video, recorded the day The Blueprint 3 was released, we see Jigga performing his hit "Empire State of Mind" during an empty sound check and later in front of thousands at a packed MSG. John Mayer cameos to explain how his team-up with Jay on "D.O.A." came about — thanks Twitter! — as well as discuss what New York City means to him. The film is so engrossing, it's actually possible to forget that it is a long-form ad for Absolut Vodka until Jigga is seen downing a shot in the closing minutes.

Related Stories:
• Jay-Z's 9/11 Benefit Turns Into All-Star Marathon With Beyonce, Kanye, Rihanna, Mayer and More
• Jay-Z Burns Through "Blueprint 3," Classics at Tiny New York Gig
• Cover Story: The Book of Jay

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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