Jay-Z, Alica Keys to Perform 'Empire State of Mind' at World Series

MYFOXNY.COM - New Yorkers Jay-Z and Alicia Keys will perform their hit single "Empire State of Mind" on the field at Yankee Stadium prior to Game 2 of the World Series on Thursday, October 29, rather than ahead of Game 1.

Major League Baseball pushed back the show because of concerns that the staging equipment could damage a wet field. Bad weather is expected Wednesday.

FOX 5's coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. and will include the duet performance, as well as Keys singing the national anthem. First pitch is scheduled for 7:57 p.m.

"As a die-hard Yankee fan, I'm honored to perform a song that celebrates the greatness of New York in one of our city's most important landmarks, Yankee Stadium," said Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter.

The Yankees have been playing short excerpts of "Empire State of Mind" over the P.A. system at Yankee Stadium as a kind of unofficial playoff anthem. It usually plays as Derek Jeter comes up to bat.

The original version does contain Jay-Z's signature language mixed in with his tributes to the city and the Yankees.

"Catch me at the X with OG at a Yankee game/[expletive] I made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can/You should know I bleed blue, but I ain't a crip though/But I got a gang of [expletive] walking with my clique though," Jay-Z raps in one refrain.

But parents need not worry. He and Keys have promised to deliver the tamer version.

"There's a clean version that goes out on radio, and that's what they'll use," said Marla Miller, an MLB official. "It doesn't have bad words."