Raise your hand if you believed in 2003 that Jay-Z — the Brett Favre of rap — was serious about quitting the game when he staged a gala “retirement” concert at Madison Square Garden. Despite the fact that the multiplatinum-selling artist would go on to release a further three albums (thus far) and was performing live again sooner rather than later (a certain Minnesota quarterback must have been taking notes), this film was too enjoyable an opportunity to miss. We get the buildup (in a variety of locations) to the show and hear the likes of Johnny Cash gushing, “He doesn’t write anything down. I have never seen anything like it.” While Michael John Warren took the director’s credit, Fade to Black is billed as “a film by Shawn Carter” — Jay-Z’s real name. But as much as these enormous displays of ego may make some viewers hope that Fade to Black would hurry up and do so, the hip-hop talent on display at the eventual concert — featuring R. Kelly, Mary J. Blige and Jay-Z’s future wife Beyoncé — is nothing short of thrilling.
Top 10 Concert Movies
From Hendrix to Hova—TIME rocks out with the greatest concert movies to ever hit the big screen.