LOS ANGELES — Nov. 15, 2007 — Hip-hop royalty returns home when Jay-Z takes the stage in New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom as part of his six-city tour to promote “American Gangster,” his 10th studio album. With tickets sold out to all six North American shows, Control Room and MSN offer the only opportunity for fans worldwide to catch this historic performance, back-stage interview and surprise guests Diddy, Li’l Wayne and Rock Boyz on the MSN Music in Concert series premiering on Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 2 p.m. EST/11 a.m. PST at music.msn.com/jayz.
Inspired by the Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe film of the same name and featuring an all-star lineup of producers including Pharrell, Diddy and Jermaine Dupri, “American Gangster” chronicles Jay-Z’s own rise from the streets of Brooklyn to president/CEO of Def Jam Records. Celebrating nearly a decade in the business, the self-proclaimed Hova demonstrates his lyrical prowess on tracks “Blue Magic,” “Party Life” and “Pray.”
“Jay-Z is one of the most prolific artists of our time, combining an extraordinary ability to convey a compelling story through pointed lyrics and possessing the skills to deliver an electrifying live performance,” said Aaron Grosky, president of Control Room. “Control Room’s mission is to bring artists of this caliber and exclusive live performances, like this one, to a worldwide audience.”
“We at MSN are excited to bring Jay-Z’s sold-out ‘American Gangster’ concert online to those who couldn’t get their hands on tickets,” said Rob Bennett, general manager, entertainment, video and sports, MSN. “We work to bring the most entertaining content to our 465 million monthly users, and, as one of the most entertaining performers of our time, Jay-Z is taking our list of MSN Music in Concert artists to another level.”
Control Room and MSN Music in Concert (http://music.msn.com/inconcert) have brought nearly 30 shows in 2007, including Rihanna, Akon, John Legend, Pussycat Dolls, James Blunt and many more to audiences worldwide.
About MSN Video
MSN Video is one of the largest free programmed video services on the Web, watched by more than 12 million unique users per month. In addition to streaming news, entertainment and sports video clips from more than 50 content partners including “The Today Show,” FOX Sports, MSNBC, Reveille, Control Room, CBS, News Corp. and Fox Entertainment Group, MSN Video presents a broad array of live events to online audiences worldwide. More than 50 top advertisers support MSN Video, which is available to consumers at no charge. MSN Video is available on the Web at http://msnvideo.com.
Overall, MSN attracts more than 465 million unique users worldwide per month. With localized versions available globally in 42 markets and 21 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering Web services to consumers and online advertising opportunities to businesses worldwide. Most recently, MSN partnered with Control Room to stream Live Earth, the largest online entertainment event in history, with over 62 million streams worldwide.
About Control Room
As the leading producer and distributor of world-class entertainment, Control Room’s live music programming showcases the world’s biggest artists from a variety of venues through multi-platform broadcasts via television, broadband and wireless platforms. Control Room has produced and distributed more than 80 live music events delivering the highest quality productions in the industry with 8-10 camera shoots in Native HD (1080p) and using Dolby 5.1 to ensure the most compelling audience experience. In 2007, Control Room produced the largest entertainment event in history, Live Earth. On July 7, 2007, the 7-continent, 24-hour music extravaganza featured 150 of the world’s leading artists to raise awareness for the Climate Crisis with a message of solutions and personal responsibility.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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