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Jay-Z, Mary J. play to "Heart of the City"

Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige perform during the Heart of the City Tour concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Thursday night. (Newsday / Ana P. Gutierrez / March 27, 2008)

BY RAFER GUZMAN | rafer.guzman@newsday.com

6:16 AM EDT, March 28, 2008

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Two of hip-hop's biggest stars created fireworks at their double-bill on Thursday night as part of their "Heart of the City" tour, though not exactly together. Fans expecting to see some explosive alchemy between Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige probably left disappointed -- shared stage time was kept to a minimum -- but the two maestros conjured up magic in their separate ways.

Each played to type: Blige, the talk therapist, and Jay-Z, the clever conversationalist. At times, they seemed like Venus and Mars, with Blige offering affirmations and sympathies while Jay-Z offered humor and bravado. That's not to say the audience split perfectly down gender lines, though. Plenty of low male voices could be heard singing Blige's anthem "No More Drama," just as plenty of girls squeaked their way through Jay-Z's rowdy "H to the Izzo."

The two stars paid lip service to the collaborative spirit, kicking off with "Can't Knock the Hustle," a track from Jay-Z's 1996 debut album "Reasonable Doubt" that had originally featured Blige on the hook. It was mostly a warm-up, a chance for the audience to admire the performers' almost-matching black-and-silver outfits. The two crossed paths again on Blige's "Real Love" and, later, Jay-Z's "Song Cry," but they mostly gave each other lots of space.

Blige delivered a one-hour, 15-minute set of soul, disco and hard-hitting funk numbers with barely a second's rest. Blige may be famous for saying no to drama -- that's shorthand for interpersonal strife and self-destructive behavior -- but she's also aware that drama is what sells. Her new album, "Growing Pains" (Geffen) is riddled with the stuff, and so was her Thursday concert, which included "Not Gon' Cry" (heartbreak), "My Life" (crises of faith) and "Your Child" (deadbeat dads). But Blige is more Winfrey than Springer: Her songs offer ways to rise above problems. And although her wisdom often sounded pedestrian, the strength of her convictions resonated through her voice.

Jay-Z launched his set with "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is...)," a single from his disc "American Gangster," inspired by the film of the same name starring Denzel Washington as a Harlem drug lord. It's a party-hearty song from a fairly serious and ambitious disc, but Jay-Z seemed in a lighthearted mood Thursday. He touched on the heavy stuff (like the addiction-themed new track "I Know") but leaned mostly on crowd pleasers like the metal-driven "99 Problems" and the retro-funky "I Just Wanna Love You (Give it 2 Me)."

The closing number was another duet, Jay-Z's "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)." "Sensitive thugs, y'all need hugs," Jay-Z rhymed. It was originally an insult; on Thursday, it sounded more like one of those affirmations.

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