JAY-Z Shares New Version Of 'Empire State Of Mind' After Epic Show In Paris
By Tony M. Centeno
April 17, 2023
JAY-Z just dropped a revamped version of his classic ode to New York City just days after he hit the stage in Paris.
On Sunday, April 16, the Roc Nation founder released a new version of his 2009 hit "Empire State of Mind" featuring the late Gil Scott-Heron. Dubbed "New York (Concept de Paris)," the brand-new instrumentals fuse Hov and Alicia Keys' collaboration with the jazz singer's 2010 song "New York Is Killing Me." The track opens with JAY-Z's first verse and then segues into Scott-Heron's hook, which replaces Keys' memorable chorus.
The record arrived a couple of days after JAY-Z touched the stage in Paris for a rare performance for the Louis Vuitton Foundation. Hov was at the Fondation Louis Vuitton on Friday, April 14 to honor Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol during LV and Tiffany & Co's "Basquiat x Warhol Painting Four Hands" exhibition. During his show, JAY-Z performed a slew of hits like "N***as In Paris" off his Watch The Throne album with Kanye West. He also belted out other bangers like "F*ckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt," "No Church In The Wild," "Encore," "Can't Knock The Hustle" and so many more.
Hov also performed his verse from DJ Khaled's "God Did" during the show. The last time he performed that record was during the 2023 Grammy Awards. He joined forces with Khaled, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Fridayy and John Legend to deliver the Grammy-nonimated song together for the first time on national television.
Listen to the new version of JAY-Z's "Empire State of Mind," and see clips of his performance in Paris below.