New Jersey Nets Barclays Center: Jay-Z to Christen Arena With Multiple Shows
The New Jersey Nets will be moving into Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn sometime during September 2012, and leading the charge through promotions and concerts is part owner, Jay-Z.
Hip-Hop mogul, music superstar, and sports enthusiast, Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter has plans to overtake the Knicks and make Brooklyn the Mecca of New York basketball.
The Daily News is reporting that Jay-Z hopes to perform at least eight shows at Barclays Center next fall to help generate buzz in the new arena.
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In a live interview during Fox 5 NY's "Good Day New York" on Monday (September 26), Jay-Z appeared at the construction site to talk about his vision for the new Nets and the arena.
Jay Z said of the move, "It's great, I have a reason to come to Brooklyn often, which is fantastic for me because this is my foundation.”
The new building has already impacted the surrounding area in a major way by providing new jobs for people.
Jay-Z expressed his love for his home borough through a song by his now deceased friend, the Notorious B.I.G. "Biggie had a line, 'Spread love, it's the Brooklyn way.' It's just how we feel, it's a deep love we have for our heroes."
"I'm going to open the building with a concert – or a couple of concerts actually," he said to Fox 5. "It's going to be more than about basketball; it's an entertainment arena."
Starting in the late 80s as an underground rapper from the area's Marcy projects, Jay-Z rose to prominence in the mid 90s when he began chronicling his life on the streets as a drug dealer before finding success as an influential rapper. Now the rapper finds himself a family man, with one child on the way with fellow entertainer, Beyonce Knowles.
