Jay-Z will be taking over Times Square. The rapper just got the go-ahead from Mayor Michael Bloomberg to perform atop the iconic Ed Sullivan Theater right near Times Square on July 8, Rolling Stone Magazine reports.
The building is the home of "The Late Show with David Letterman," where Jay-Z will be a guest on the show the same night as the performance. The outdoor concert is a part of the rapper's promotional campaign to promote his upcoming album "Magna Carta Holy Grail." The album will be released four days before the performance.
Jay-Z has released several teasers for fans including lyrics to some of the songs on the album, behind-the-scene photos and most recently two videos where he addresses his fear of being a great father to daughter Blue Ivy.
"[She's] something we both created; we still marvel at her," Jay-Z begins in the video. "My pop left when I was young, so he didn't teach me how to be a man, nor how to raise a child, or treat a woman. So of course, my karma, two things I need, I don't have. And I have a daughter. It's the paranoia of not being a great dad."
In the second clip he focuses on the subject of Heaven and Hell and all the uncertainties that surround the subject.
"For me, my idea of heaven is in your daughter's laughter; hell could be if your child is missing for three minutes - you're in three minutes of hell," he told producer Rick Rubin in the second clip. "It's just not my belief that a just God would make you burn for eternity for [the] free will that he gave you."
According to the New York Post, New York officials will be shutting down a part of Broadway near the theater between 53rd and 54th streets for the concert. Other performers to have graced the Ed Sullivan Theater include Phish and Paul McCartney.
