Jay-Z & Alicia Keys, Empire State of Mind | Dazzling Duets

In the 16^th edition of Dazzling Duets (2025), Grammy-winning musicians Jay-Z and Alicia Keys collaborate on “Empire State of Mind.”

Sometimes, two is better than one! That is the case when it comes to Dazzling Duets! On Dazzling Duets, we highlight ear-catching songs performed by two artists collaborating. These duets can be from any musical style, making Dazzling Duets a flexible, versatile column on The Musical Hype. In the 16^th edition of Dazzling Duets (2025), Jay-Z and Alicia Keys collaborate on “Empire State of Mind”.  Let the dazzle begin!

“Catch me at the X with OG at a Yankee game / Shit, I made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can.” Oh, snap, Jay-Z! What happens when you put two highly decorated musicians on the same track? Excellence.  At least, that’s the case with Jay-Z, a 25-time Grammy winner, and Alicia Keys, a 17-time Grammy Winner, who joined forces in 2009 to create a new anthem for the state of New York and New York City with “Empire State of Mind”. “Empire State of Mind” marked one of the brightest spots on Hov’s The Blueprint 3.  Notably, the beloved, dominant hit spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2024, it was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America.  “Empire State of Mind” was nominated for three Grammys at the 53^rd Annual Grammy Awards.  It won two of them (Rap Song and Rap/Sung Collaboration ), only losing the highly coveted Record of the Year (Lady Antebellum beat out the duo for their big-time hit, “Need You Now”). JAY-Z, Keys, Al Shux, Angela Hunte, Janet Sewell, Sylvia Robinson (1935 – 2011), and Bert Keyes (1930 – 1987) penned the unforgettable late ‘00s gem. “Empire” samples a soul classic, “Love On A Two-Way Street” by The Moments, hence the writing credits for Robinson and Keyes. Hunte, Sewell, and Shux produced it.

Jay-Z draws first blood on “Empire State of Mind.” In the first verse, he characterizes himself as the new Sinatra, referencing the “Theme From New York, New York”: “I’m the new Sinatra, and since I made it here / I can make it anywhere, yeah, they love me everywhere.”  The rapper goes on to reference his drug-dealing days, asserting, “Catch me in the kitchen, like a Simmons whippin’ pastry.” Of course, Hov has come up on those Billboard charts, and he’s “Sittin’ courtside, Knicks and Nets give me high-fives.” Following Jay-Z’s verses, Keys gets the honor of performing the most memorable part of the song, the chorus, in all its glory.

“In New York

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of

There’s nothin’ you can’t do

Now you’re in New York

These streets will make you feel brand-new

Big lights will inspire you

Let’s hear it for New York, New York, New York.”

She’s a star, including in the bridge that appears after his third verse, but Jay-Z remains on point, dropping some of the best rhymes of his career. Beyond the Yankee game he mentions in the second verse (excerpted earlier), he adds, “You should know I bleed blue, but I ain’t a Crip though / But I got a gang of niggas walkin’ with my clique though.” In the third, he continues to highlight the city, spitting, “Good girls gone bad, the city’s filled with them / Mami took a bus trip, now she got her bust out / Everybody ride her, just like a bus route.” Woo! Ultimately, “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys is a once-in-a-lifetime song.  Revisiting this collaboration – this dazzling duet – it’s not surprising why it was so beloved at the time and still garners plenty of praise.

 

Appears in:

New York: 5ive Songs No. 13 (2021) 15 Compelling New York Songs (2021)  Incredible Songs: 2000s, Vol. 1 (2023)

 

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Jay-Z » Blueprint 3 » Roc Nation » 2009

Jay-Z & Alicia Keys, Empire State of Mind: Dazzling Duets No. 16 (2025) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Roc Nation; cottonbro studio, Sachith Ravishka Kodikara from Pexels; andresilva5, OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay]

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