Jay-Z in London, 2004 to 2012

Knightsbridge, Mayfair, Regent Street and Chelsea, London · 2026

I am Charles Pycraft, a London photographer. Jay-Z has been named headliner of the Apple Music Super Bowl LXI Halftime Show at SoFi Stadium in February 2027 (NFL, https://www.nfl.com/news/jay-z-to-headline-super-bowl-lxi-at-sofi-stadium-in-inglewood). It is a fitting stage for an artist who has spent 2026 marking 30 years of Reasonable Doubt with stadium shows, London among them (CBS News, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jay-z-super-bowl-halftime-show-headliner/).

Before the Super Bowl, London

Long before that, London was a regular stop. Shawn Carter, the Brooklyn rapper who co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records and went on to build Roc Nation, spent much of the 2000s turning UK festival slots and club nights into headline news. These archive frames follow him across eight years of London evenings.

2004 and 2005: Knightsbridge and Mayfair

In May 2004 he was in town for the Prince's Trust Urban Music Festival at Earl's Court, and was pictured outside Mr Chow in Knightsbridge in a camel coat and tinted shades. By October 2005 he was suited and booted at Nobu Berkeley in Mayfair, with Beyoncé a step behind him.

Jay-Z in a camel coat and tinted sunglasses outside Mr Chow in London at night.
MR CHOW, KNIGHTSBRIDGE, MAY 2004. Jay-Z outside Mr Chow, Knightsbridge, London, May 2004.
Jay-Z in a dark pinstripe suit and polka dot tie leaving Nobu Berkeley, with Beyoncé behind him.
Jay-Z and Beyoncé at Nobu Berkeley, Mayfair, October 2005.

2008 and 2009: Wireless summers

The summer of 2008 brought one of his biggest UK moments. Fresh from headlining the O2 Wireless Festival in Hyde Park, a few days after his much discussed Glastonbury set, he was pictured leaving a club on Regent Street in a grey check jacket. A year later, in July 2009, he was out at Vendome in London in black with a chain and dark glasses.

Jay-Z in a grey check jacket and sunglasses leaving a London club at night.
Leaving a club on Regent Street, Wireless week, July 2008.
Jay-Z in a black jacket, white T-shirt and chain walking along a London pavement at night.
Jay-Z on a night out at Vendome, London, July 2009.

London 2012

The last frame comes from September 2012, the night the London Paralympic Games closed. Jay-Z was pictured arriving at Nozomi in Chelsea before moving on to an after party, the London 2012 branding still on the streets.

Jay-Z in black with a gold chain arriving at Nozomi in Chelsea beside a London 2012 branded car.
Jay-Z at Nozomi, Chelsea, on the night of the London 2012 Paralympic closing ceremony.

Now

Today he is a 25-time Grammy winner and one of the most successful artists and entrepreneurs in music. His own words on the Super Bowl news sum it up: "From Reasonable Doubt to standing on the Super Bowl Halftime stage, this has been a journey."

My photography years ran from 1999 to 2014, and that archive is now licensed through Backgrid UK.

The pictures

Five frames from a body of work I made in London between 1999 and 2014. Where people who are not public figures appeared in the background, they have been blurred.

Related: London nights 2006: Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Björk

Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID. Licensing: Backgrid UK Sales, backgrid_uksales@shutterstock.com