Flashback: Phish and Jay Z Join Forces For ’99 Problems’
Jay Z and Phish have more in common than one might suspect. They both rose out of an underground scene to incredible prominence in the mid-1990s despite a lack of mainstream pop hits, and both attracted an enormous audience with their amazing live performances and complex, witty tunes. They have a history of announcing retirements with great fanfare, and then roaring back just a few years later with new projects. They’re also not exactly strangers to the world of illegal drugs or the U.S. court system.
But the only time their worlds actually collided was one incredible night at Brooklyn’s KeySpan Park on June 18th, 2004. Phish had just kicked off a much-hyped farewell tour and Jay Z was in “retirement” mode himself after the release of The Black Album the previous year and his retirement party show at Madison Square Garden. Three songs into Phish’s second set, right after “Down With Disease,” out walked Jay Z to stunned applause. “We’re going to bring out a friend of…