Rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z performed his song “Picasso Baby” for six straight hours in a New York art exhibit Wednesday, proving that hip hop and respectable things can indeed mix.
The Brooklynite performed for a crowd in New York’s Pace Gallery, promoting his recently released album “Magna Carta Holy Grail.” Mark Romanek, who directed the video for Jay-Z’s “99 Problems,” is using footage from the event for a planned music video.
The publicity stunt was social media gold, as Vine and Twitter blew up in response. One video depicted J and artist Marina Abramovic dancing inches from each other’s faces at one point.
“I really really really can’t cope with Jay-Z and Marina Abramovic cavorting about the Pace Gallery like its a normal Wednesday afternoon,” tweeted one audience member.
Abramovic is no stranger to lengthy performances for the sake of art. Said to have inspired the rap showcase, Abramovic sat still at a table for seven-and-a-half hours a day for three months for a 2010 Museum of Modern Art exhibit called “The Artist is Present.”
Another Vine video showed an elderly lady in a lime green dress and leg cast riding around Jay-Z in a scooter.
“Magna Carta Holy Grail” has gotten mixed review from critics, though many panned the album as more commercially focused than musical. Jay-Z released the album on July 4, four days before the official release, exclusively for Samsung Galaxy users.