Jay-Z took the stage at approximately 5:20 p.m. on August 25, 1997, at Notting Hill Carnival in Ladbroke Grove, West London, performing on Tim Westwood’s Radio 1 stage. The 27-year-old artist, one year removed from his debut album Reasonable Doubt, was months away from releasing In My Lifetime, Vol. 1.
The Carnival lineup that day included Busta Rhymes, Rampage, Common, Lil’ Kim, the LOX, Beenie Man, EPMD, and British and Jamaican acts. According to A&R executive Dillon Moulder, who documented the event, assembling so many U.S. hip-hop artists on a single stage in the U.K. was unprecedented. “You’d be lucky to get one hip-hop artist, maybe, if you were lucky, every quarter to every six months,” Moulder recalled.
Jay-Z’s set opened with “Ain’t No…” and included “Who You Wit,” which was gaining traction on U.K. radio and in clubs. He also performed “Sunshine” and “Streets Is Watching” from the forthcoming album, and rapped over Missy Elliott’s “The Rain.” Two nights prior, Jay had appeared on Westwood’s national Radio 1 show, building anticipation for the Carnival performance.
In 1997, hip-hop was on the verge of mainstream breakthrough in Britain. Jay-Z’s profile had been building steadily following the U.K. licensing of Reasonable Doubt and his May opening slot for the Fugees at Wembley Arena. His July cover appearance on Hip Hop Connection magazine further elevated his visibility.
Nearly three decades later, Jay-Z returns to London for two shows at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 4 and 5, 2026. The stadium sits less than one mile from the Temple club in Tottenham, where Jay attended an afterparty following the 1997 Carnival performance.
See Jay-Z live
Upcoming Jay-Z events with tickets available:
- Sep 4, 2026 — Tottenham Hotspur New Stadium, London, Greater London · Get tickets
- Sep 5, 2026 — Tottenham Hotspur New Stadium, London, Greater London · Get tickets
- Sep 10, 2026 — Stade De France, Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis · Get tickets
- Oct 23, 2026 — SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California · Get tickets
- Oct 24, 2026 — SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California · Get tickets
Tickets are sold by GetUrTix. Code GTIX20 takes 20% off the ticket price at checkout — no minimum, no expiry.
Source: Rolling Stone
