Jay-Z plots Sept. 11 gig as new Drake collab 'Off That' leaks

Jay-Z at All Points West

Credit: Katie Hasty

A couple new Jay-Z tidbits "leaked' over this weekend: a new track, featuring Drake, made its way to the torrents and details about his album release party at Madison Square Garden started making the rounds.

First: "Off That," posted below, is one of the many, many guest-featured tracks off of the rapper's forthcoming "Blueprint 3" set, due Sept. 11. Jay-Z gets more aggressive with his verses, in topic and deliver: he takes down conservatitve talking heads like Bill O'Riley, rhymers in "oversized clothes and chains/we off that."

In a lot of ways, it sounds like him turning the mirror on detractors who say he's past his best game: Jay-Z has survived so long, he gets to call what's on and off, much like he did with auto-tune. 

Drake is barely audible, keeping to the choruses, but keeping pace.

This comes only a few short days after Jay-Z unveiled his video for "Run This Town," featuring Rihanna and Kanye West.

Meanwhile, the hip-hop vet will be performing charity gig, appropriately dubbed "Jay-Z Live from Madison Square Garden: Answer the Call," at MSG in New York on the release date of "Blueprint 3." Proceeds from tickets sales, as well as merch sales, will go toward New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund. It will also be broadcast live and commercial-free on music cable network Fuse.

It confirms in part why Hov decided to release the album on a Friday (Sept. 11), as opposed to the regular Tuesday: it is intended to commemorate the World Trade Center tragedy from 2001.

"The events of September 11th challenged JAY-Z as an entertainer and a New Yorker.  This benefit concert serves as not just a reminder of the lives lost but as a look towards the future and the hope that arose on September 12th," said a press release from Fuse.

"This charity and concert encompass the true spirit of New York City," said Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter in Brooklyn. "We are asking everyone to 'answer the call' and support and honor the families of those that lost their lives in the line of duty. There was true camaraderie and resiliency that this city showed the world in 2001, and we continue that today by taking care of our own." 

Details of the ticket on-sale are promised to arrive shortly.

Katie Hasty
Managing Editor

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After five years as a columnist and editor at Billboard, Katie Hasty joined HitFix in 2009 for music and film reporting out of New York. The Midwest native has worked as a writer, music promoter and in A&R since 1999 and performs with her band Numbers And Letters.