"That's right, Oprah is in the house, ya'll" a sweat-drenched Mary J. Blige shouted into her mic Friday night at Madison Square Garden, the New York stop of her tour with Jay-Z, which grossed $9 million in its first eight days. Blige spent a large portion of the night whining into her mic about how to cope with baby mamma drama and a plethora of other seemingly unrelated topics. She powered through her hits, but after a bit, much of the crowd sat down.

Then Jay appeared.

During a highly charged political song, the screens behind the Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn-bred rapper flashed with images of Bobby Kennedy, Ronald Regan, and the Vietnam War, which perfectly coupled with his perfectly timed lyrics. As the footage turned to Katrina, Jay rapped: "And the news helicopter swooped down with his telescopic lens to get his scoop but he didn't scoop you," and chopper shots of flood victims stranded on their roofs rolled.

The packed MSG crowd went berserk when Jay-Z took over the turntables to work out a song. He played one verse from several of his most popular tracks before cutting off each of them, saying, "Naw, fuck that." He even took a shot at "Crazy in Love," his duet with new wife Beyoncé Knowles, saying simply when it came up in the rotation, "Fuck that." Then from stage right appeared a mock-angry Beyoncé, who proceeded to high step and vamp across the stage while Jay flashed a huge grin.