2008–2011: The Blueprint 3 and Watch the Throne

Jay-Z performing in 2008

In winter 2008, it was announced that Jay-Z would become the first major hip
hop artist to headline Britain's Glastonbury Festival.[81][82] Tickets sold out
quickly. Former headliner Noel Gallagher of Oasis condemned the festival
organizers for choosing Jay-Z to headline a traditionally guitar-driven festival.
"I'm sorry, but Jay-Z?" Gallagher asked, swearing. "No chance. Glastonbury
has a tradition of, kind of, guitar music, do you know what I mean? And even
when they throw the odd curve balls in on a Sunday night—you go, 'Kylie
Minogue? I don't know about that', do you know what I mean?—but I'm not
having hip hop at Glastonbury, no way, no, no. It's wrong." [83] As controversy
mounted, Jay-Z replied, "We don't play guitars, Noel, but hip hop has put in
its work like any other form of music. This headline show is just a natural
progression. Rap music is still evolving. We have to respect each other's
genre of music and move forward."[84] Jay-Z opened his Glastonbury set with
a tongue-in-cheek cover of Oasis's iconic song "Wonderwall",[85] and went on
to deliver a performance heralded as a successful response to pre-festival
criticism.[86]
He also headlined many other summer festivals in 2008, including Roskilde
Festival in Denmark,[87] Hove Festival in Norway[88] and O2 Wireless
Festival in London.[89] During Kanye West's concert of August 6, 2008, at
Madison Square Garden, Jay-Z came out to perform a new song and he and
West proclaimed that it was to be on The Blueprint 3.[90] On May 21, 2009,
Jay-Z announced he would be parting ways with Def Jam, and had struck a
multi-million-dollar deal to sign with Live Nation, with whom he would start
his Roc Nation imprint which would serve as a record label,
talent/management agency, and music publishing company [91] and also
partnered with production team Stargate to start a record label
called StarRoc.[92][93] Jay-Z's 11th studio album The Blueprint 3 was originally
to be released on September 11, 2009,[94] but was instead released in North
America on September 8, 2009, due to increasing anticipation. [95] Its
international release followed on September 14.[96] It is his 11th album to
reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200[97] and has surpassed Elvis Presley's
previous record, making him the current solo-artist record holder. [98] On
October 9, 2009, Jay-Z kicked off his tour for The Blueprint 3, during which he
supported his new album in North America. In a Shave Magazine review of
his performance at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Jake Tomlinson expressed that
"It was the type of smooth performance you would expect from the hip-hop
superstar." The review gave this performance 4 stars. His North American
tour continued until November 22, 2009.[99] At his concert on November 8,
2009, at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, Rihanna joined him on stage and performed
"Hard" for the first time, then performed "Run This Town" with Jay-Z.
[100] Among his success, Jay-Z has ventured into producing Broadway shows.
Along with Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, Jay-Z helped produce the
play Fela!, a musical celebrating the work of the late Nigerian star Fela Kuti.
[101] Jay-Z said he was inspired by the power of Kuti's work and his life story,
which resulted in his interest to help produce the musical. [101] Fela! is a story
about an African pioneer and political activist who made his first moves on
the scene during the 1970s.[101]

Jay-Z performing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts

Festival in April 2010
On January 23, 2010, Jay-Z released a track, "Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)",
with Rihanna, and U2's Bono and The Edge, as well as performing it at
the Hope For Haiti Now telethon.[102] In June 2010, Eminem and Jay-Z
announced they would perform together in a pair of concerts in Detroit and
New York. The event was dubbed The Home & Home Tour. The first two
concerts rapidly sold out, prompting the scheduling of an additional show at
each venue.[103] Jay-Z was the supporting act for U2 on the Australian and
New Zealand leg of their U2 360° Tour, beginning in Auckland, New Zealand,
in November 2010, followed by Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth in
December.[104]
Jay-Z also appeared on stage during U2 performances of "Sunday Bloody
Sunday", and in Auckland also on a five-track EP entitled Watch the Throne,
although it was later revealed by West that the project had become a full-
length LP. Recording sessions for the album took place at various recording
locations and began in November 2010. The first single released for the
project was "H•A•M". The track was co-produced by Lex Luger and West
himself. The track ended up being on the deluxe edition of the album. The
follow-up to that was the second single "Otis", which premiered
on Funkmaster Flex's Hot 97 radio show, and was later released to the iTunes
Store eleven days later. The song's existence, along with several other tracks
from the album, was confirmed during a listening session hosted by Jay-Z.
[105] The album was first released on the iTunes Store, five days prior to its
being released in physical format, a strategy Jay-Z later said was used to
block an internet leak. It debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes Store in 23 countries.
It also broke Coldplay's record for most albums sold in one week on the
online retailer, selling 290,000 copies on iTunes alone. It held that record
until Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV was released twenty-one days later, selling
10,000 copies more. It debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart at No. 1,
selling 436,000 copies in its first week. The album received generally positive
reviews. Jay-Z and West later gave a surprise performance of "Otis" at
the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards.
2012–2016: Magna Carta Holy Grail and other ventures

Jay-Z and his wife Beyoncé after his performance of "Tom

Ford" on The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in 2013
Jay-Z collaborated with M.I.A on her single "XXXO", which achieved a fair
level of success and went on to become remixed by several producers
worldwide. In May 2012, Jay-Z and former Philadelphia mayor Michael A.
Nutter announced Jay-Z as the curator and the headliner for the first annual
"Budweiser Made in America" festival at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia on
September 1 and 2, 2012. The performance was produced by Live
Nation and assembled an eclectic lineup of "rock, hip hop, R&B, Latin
music and dance" musicians.[106] Jay-Z and Rihanna were the two main
headlining acts for BBC Radio 1's 2012 Hackney Weekend music festival on
June 23 to 24.[107] Jay-Z opened his set with an appearance from Rihanna,
they performed "Run this Town". On September 6, "Clique" was released, a
single from the album "Cruel Summer", by GOOD Music. Kanye West and Big
Sean starred alongside Jay-Z on the track. Jay-Z took the subway to his sold-
out show at The Barclays Center on October 6, 2012. [108] On November 12,
2012, Coldplay announced that they will be playing with Jay-Z at the Barclays
Center in Brooklyn on December 31.[109]
On September 23, 2010, Q-Tip confirmed working on Jay-Z's follow-up album
to The Blueprint 3, saying the album was to hit stores by spring 2011. [110] In
May 2012 it was reported that Jay-Z would work on new music with Roc
Nation producer Jahlil Beats. Beats told XXL magazine: "Me and Jay-Z been
going back and forth. He picked a couple of my joints that he's working on. I
don't even wanna say too much about Jay, but we definitely working on some
stuff. I haven't even sent him a bunch of beats. I sent him my favorite stuff.
He hit me right back like, 'Yo, I'ma go in on this,' or, 'I like this.'" [111] The
album has been named one of the most anticipated albums of 2013
by Complex Magazine, MTV, and XXL. Production will come from Jahlil
Beats, Kanye West, Rick Rubin, Swizz Beatz, Timbaland, and Pharrell
Williams.[112][113] Jay-Z also made an appearance on Justin Timberlake's
comeback single "Suit & Tie" from his third studio album The 20/20
Experience, the song itself was produced by both Jay-Z and Timberlake's
mutual friend, Timbaland.[114] Timberlake and Jay-Z embarked on the co-
headlining Legends of the Summer Stadium Tour.[115]
During the fifth game of the 2013 NBA Finals, Carter announced his twelfth
studio album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, and was released on July 4, 2013. Not
long after, Jay-Z confirmed that the hyphen in his stage name would be left
out and officially stylized in all capital letters. [116] Magna Carta Holy
Grail debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold 528,000 copies in
its first week, which bypassed its predicted debut in the range of 350,000 to
400,000.[117] In December 2013, it was announced that Jay-Z had received
nine nominations at the 2014 Grammy Awards, more than any other artist.
[118] Jay-Z appeared on his wife Beyoncé's self-titled fifth studio
album, Beyoncé, with a feature on the song "Drunk in Love". They performed
this song together at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards opening.[119] The
song and its accompanying album would later win three Grammy Awards
including Best R&B Performance at the 2015 ceremony. In 2016, he won a
lawsuit for the song "Made in America" with Kanye West featuring Frank
Ocean against Joel McDonald.[120]