Pitchfork

A dozen years ago, a hungry kid from Brooklyn who'd taken to calling himself Jay-Z met up with a rising R&B star named Mary J. Blige to record "Can't Knock the Hustle", the leadoff track from his soon-to-be-classic Reasonable Doubt LP.

Already a couple albums deep into her storied career, Mary was then and is now the queen of hip-hop soul. And Jay's hustle has been pretty much unknockable ever since. They've recorded and performed together plenty of times over the years, including that incredible take on their first collaboration from the must-see Fade to Black concert flick.

This spring, the two icons and old friends will once again join forces to co-headline the 25-date "Heart of the City" tour.

The tour's initial run of dates has been announced, with more to come. In addition to these 11 dates, shows in Houston, New Orleans, and Las Vegas are promised. (Chicago, please!!)

Jay, as you know, recently left his post at Def Jam, though if it means more stuff like this and American Gangster and yanking Glastonbury's headlining spot from Razorlight or whatever, it's looking more and more like a wise move. And Mary's pretty damn good Growing Pains LP dropped in December.

"Heart of the City" tour, so far:

03-22 Miami, FL - American Airlines Arena
03-26 Baltimore, MD - 1st Mariner Arena
03-27 Uniondale, NY - Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
03-28 East Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center
03-30 Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center
04-02 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre
04-03 Boston, MA - TD Banknorth Garden
04-05 Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum
04-06 Washington, DC - Verizon Center
04-16 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
04-20 Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena

Jay:

06-27-29 Glastonbury, England - Glastonbury Festival