Memphis Bleek says Jay-Z barely spoke as a security scare delayed the final night of his Yankee Stadium residency, leaving longtime engineer Young Guru to keep everyone backstage calm.
“He wasn’t talking to nobody,” Bleek told TMZ. “I had to talk to Guru. Guru was the temperature last night.”
According to Bleek, Jay-Z had gone into what he called “stone-faced killer” mode while the team waited for answers about whether the concert could continue. Young Guru, meanwhile, assured him that the night would turn out fine.
“He told me, ‘Bleek, everything’s going to be alright. We prepared for this. And we’re going to shut this s–t down. Tell them people out there to shut up and be patient,’” Bleek recalled.
The rapper admitted the long delay had unnerved him and joked that he asked Guru, “Gu, we lost our feet. What we gon’ do?”
“Get some more D’Usse, it’ll make it all better,” Guru reportedly responded.
The delay began Sunday after hundreds of people without tickets rushed stadium entrances and, in some cases, breached security, according to a joint statement from Roc Nation, the Yankees and Live Nation. Officials closed all gates for an extended period while the NYPD and stadium security worked to restore order.
Jay-Z eventually took the stage after midnight and completed the third and final show of his career-spanning Yankee Stadium run.
All three shows were sold out.