Alicia Keys & Jay-Z perform ‘Empire State of Mind’ [VMA Performance Video]…

Last night, the very controversial 2009 MTV Video Music Awards went down in New York City at the Radio City Music Hall last night (Sept 13th). Paying homage to the Big Apple was Alicia Keys and rapper Jay-Z. The Hip Hop & R&B heavyweights sang their latest duet ‘Empire State of Mind’, which is taken from the rapper’s recently released ‘The Blueprint 3′. This was the first time the duo publicly joined forces. This is really surprising to me because I think this collaboration was well overdue. He’s duetted with previous R&B heavyweights like his wife Beyonce and Mary J Blige so it only seemed right that he did something with Alicia eventually.

Wow. Alicia upstaged Jay-Z on his own song. At first, she belted out the number from behind her piano as images of Manhattan flashed across the instrument. Afterwards, she stood up and departed from her beloved piano to take centre stage. Beyonce was seen in the audience jamming out to the hook. Alicia’s vocals were clearly outstanding and I cannot wait to hear her new single in two weeks time. You can now watch the performance after the jump.