“Fade to Black,” which documents the concert that had been billed as Jay-Z’s last, probably was a lot more poignant for the people who packed Madison Square Garden that night than it will be for moviegoers.
As we know now, the sold-out November 2003 show was more like the rapper’s penultimate waltz. Like Michael Jordan, Jay-Z’s idea of “retirement” apparently is a fluid thing.
Shawn Carter since has returned to launch — um, sort of — a tour with R. Kelly, which famously has been plagued by the R&B singer’s pullout amid accusations of violence and a lawsuit. And you can’t flip around on the radio these days without hearing the insanely catchy mash-up of Jay-Z’s “Encore” with Linkin Park’s “Numb.”
To paraphrase a country song, how can we miss him when he won’t go away?
Members of the Roc-A-Fella faithful don’t have to burden themselves that question, which is probably a good thing. If nothing else, “Fade to Black” proves that the cult of Jay-Z is a formidable force to behold — especially here in his hometown (he grew up in the Marcy Projects in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn).
He’ll start a song — “Big Pimpin’,” for example, or “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” — then stop rapping after a couple of lines, and literally every single person in the audience knows every single word and can finish the song a cappella. Male, female, black, white, Hispanic — doesn’t matter.
Though Jay-Z himself has a low-key presence, each new guest who joins him on stage ups the energy level, from Memphis Bleek to Missy Elliott to Mary J. Blige. His covert love interest, Beyoncé, absolutely tears it up and upstages Jay-Z himself with “Crazy in Love”; in black sequins and bright yellow pumps, she’s a post-millennial Ikette, all flying hair and grinding hips.
Performances like that make you wish directors Michael John Warren and Patrick Paulson had crafted “Fade to Black” as a pure concert film. Just when things really get going, they cut away to Jay-Z sitting in a studio with various producers and posse members, bobbing his head as he samples beats and hooks for “The Black Album.” The rapper’s soft-spoken narration, as he describes what’s going on in his mind while preparing for his alleged final album and concert, also drags the momentum down.
Only the most fervent fans (and wannabe rappers) will be interested in spending so much time behind the scenes — but then again, this movie isn’t for the uninitiated. If you don’t know who Pharrell and Timbaland are, “Fade to Black” isn’t about to tell you.
It is fascinating though — and extremely telling, in light of recent developments — to watch the dynamic between Jay-Z and R. Kelly when they walk on stage together toward the end of the show. Dressed in matching white parkas and baggy pants, they’re unified on the outside only. The kind of camaraderie Jay-Z had shared with Beanie Sigel and Ghostface Killah is suddenly gone; these two disparate superstars barely share the same stage.
Jay-Z doesn’t seem to mind, though. “You get one night like this in your whole lifetime,” he says wistfully toward the film’s end.
But a quote from Usher is even more apropos: “It ain’t over,” he insists backstage, sounding a bit like Miss Cleo, only with tighter abs and a little more accuracy.