Jay-Z played South By Southwest last year but, this year, things will be a little bit different.
The hip-hop mogul has been tapped to play a solo concert by American Express — in conjunction with Twitter and SXSW to launch a new AmEx syncing feature. Hov’s show will take place on March 12 at the rap-ripe time of 7 p.m. CST from Austin City Limits Live.
For those playing at home, that’s the day before the Music portion of SXSW begins, and one of the last days of the Interactive portion. Tickets are free, however you must 1) be an Interactive badge-holder 2) be an American Express cardholder 3) have a Twitter account that you then sync with your AmEx 4) endure a first-come-first-serve ticket line starting at 7 a.m. on Saturday (March 10) 5) hold your breath while you hop on your left leg for two minutes without losing balance as you hum the National Anthem.
For those that can’t make any of that dream come true, AmEx will be live-streaming Jay-Z’s concert on their specially launched Jay-Z Sync Show YouTube page, as well as broadcasting it on to a billboard on Austin’s main drag, 6th Street.
Jay-Z fans will be able to Tweet their song requests, with the most-requested songs getting play. My suggestion: launching a national campaign for Crowd-Sourcing Awareness, where we all band together in one accord to demand “It’s Raining Men.” Hallelujah?
Jay-Z took the stage with Kanye West last year during VEVO’s first SXSW concert series launch, marking their first live promotional effort in amping up Watch The Throne. VEVO is returning this year, lineup TBA.
The rapper has remained relatively quiet after the birth of his and Beyonce’s first baby, Blue Ivy, on Jan. 7, though he did host a suite of historic solo concerts at Carnegie Hall last month. Do you think he’ll be bowing new songs?