Are you going to the Jay-Z and Eminem show at Yankee Stadium?

The new Yankee Stadium will host its first concerts ever on Monday and Tuesday, when hip-hop artists Jay-Z and Eminem perform in their "home and home" stadium shows. The dynamic duo did two nights in Detroit's Comerica Park last week, and the concerts got great reviews.

And I really, really want to see one of the Yankee Stadium shows, but any tickets I've seen out there have been out of my price range. (I'm hoping to get lucky on StubHub at the last minute and drag Squawker Jon; I could just imagine how much he'd love the show! Or maybe somebody will have an extra ticket for me or something. You never know!)

I'm a longtime fan of Eminem, thanks to my nephew introducing me to his music, but I only got into Jay-Z last year, thanks to the Yankees, with an assist from Oprah! When Alex Rodriguez started using a Jay-Z song as his at-bat theme song, I started paying attention to his music. Then Jay-Z gave the Yankees a new theme song of their own with "Empire State of Mind." And when I saw him on Oprah, and read her interview with him in O magazine, I was really impressed with him as a person. So I've caught up on his music since then.

I wonder if there are a lot of Yankee fans of a certain age, like myself, whose main exposure to what the kids are listening to these days are at-bat theme songs! But I used to be much more aware of what was happening in music -- especially hip-hop. I was there in person in the 80s when RUN-DMC first broke through and rocked the house at the Garden with LL Cool J and Whodini. I also saw N.W.A. and Eazy-E perform live during the "Straight Outta Compton" era. Nowadays, I can't even remember the last show I saw (I think it was Springsteen, but I can't be sure!)

Anyhow, the two Jay-Z/Eminem shows at Yankee Stadium sound like they are going to be epic, between Jay-Z and Eminem performing on the same stage, and all the guest stars (the Detroit shows had Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Drake, and Young Jeezy, among other names.) It's this year's version of The Police at Shea, when it comes to impact. I was at that concert in 1983, and I hope I get to go to one of the Jay-Z/Eminem shows this year!

What do you think? Tell  us about it!

A Squawker family member is not in an 'Empire State of Mind'

So much for rapper Jay-Z's boast that he made the Yankee hat "more famous than a Yankee can." My brother never heard of him!

He emailed me this morning after reading my squawk talking about how Bill Madden messed up his Jay-Z reference to the anthem "Empire State of Mind" in the new "Steinbrenner" book. "I have never heard this 'song' and didn't even know he wore a Yankee cap," my brother wrote me. When I called him to ask him to elaborate on this, he said he could name lots of Yankees - A-Rod, and Jeter, and CC, and even Javy! But he didn't know anything about this Jay-Z character. Therefore, how could Jay-Z have made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can? Now there's a question for the ages!

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My brother also sent me a link to Michael Shapiro's review of "Steinbrenner" for the New York Times. The article illustrates one of my pet peeves about book reviews - they too frequently illustrate the reviewer's biases, more than they tell people if the book is worth reading. In this case, the reviewer clearly despises Steinbrenner and everything he stands for, so the article is more about his hatred for George than anything else. Shapiro does write this blurbish comment, though:

Reading the book feels like the literary equivalent of passing a traffic accident; it is all but impossible to turn away.

That tired old cliche makes it into the New York Times? C'mon now.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Getting in an "Empire State of Mind" for Yankee Opening Day

I was trying to get Squawker Jon to do something special for the opening of baseball season. Maybe we could do our own version of "Empire State of Mind," I suggested? With us performing the song?

Jon was skeptical enough, but he gave me the glare to end all glares when I announced that I would play Jay-Z's role in the video, since he is the Yankee fan. Jon would get to rock the piano, a la the Captain in the Captain and Tennille.

Eventually, Squawker Jon agreed to play the piano, and even sing Alicia Keys' part. On one condition - that we would also remake the 1986's "Let's Go Mets" video, with me playing the role of Joe Piscopo. Harsh!


Anyhow, needless to say, we ended up doing neither video, so here's the original "Emipre State of Mind" video to kick off Opening Day.