Jay-Z Remembers Nipsey Hussle With Freestyle at ‘B-Sides 2’ Concert

Jay Z and Nipsey Hussle (Credit: YouTube)

Jay-Z paid tribute to Nipsey Hussle during his “B-Sides 2″ concert Friday night at Webster Hall in New York City.

The hip-hop mogul, who was close friends with Hussle, performed a freestyle rap criticizing gentrification in honor of the slain rapper, activist and entrepreneur.

In the song, posted on Instagram by BET, Jay-Z delivered the verse: “Gentrify your own hood before these people do it/ Claim eminent domain and have your people move in/ That’s a small glimpse into what Nipsey was doing/ For anybody still confused as to what he was doing.”

“The neighborhood designed to keep us trapped/ They redline us so property declines if you by blacks/ They depress the asset and take the property back/ It’s a ruthless but ingenious plan in fact/ So now we fighting over scraps/ crabs in the barrel but crabs don’t belong in the barrel/ But they ain’t never tell us that,” he continued.

Related StoryNipsey Hussle Honored With Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame (Video)

Nipsey Hussle was fatally shot outside his Marathon Clothing store in South Los Angeles on March 31.

Later in the song, Jay-Z rapped: “I told neighborhood Nipsey stay close/ A hundred million dollars on your schedule, lay low/ Tell your team to be on point in the places that they go/ I never dreamed he’d be killed in a place that he called home.”

The hip-hop star’s “B-Sides 2” show marked the grand re-opening of Webster Hall, following extensive renovations. The concert featured lesser-known tracks from Jay-Z’s career, and included appearances by Nas, Cam’ron and Jim Jones.

At one point in the show, Jay-Z fired a not-so-subtle shot at box-office smash hit Avengers: Endgame, according to USA Today.

“Thank you all for being here,” he told the audience. “This sh-t means a lot to me. I know the Avengers is playing in a theater down the block and all, but the Avengers aren’t even real.”

By the way, Avengers: Endgame is the biggest movie in the world, opening this weekend with a record worldwide take of $1.2 billion.


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