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Rapper Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z Image Credit: AP

Jay-Z has entered a new level of music superstardom, performing at Carnegie Hall.

The veteran rapper performed more than two dozen hits at the famed venue on Monday night, one of two shows for charity planned this week.

He was backed by an orchestra of 30-plus and a band that included Questlove of The Roots.

Jay-Z got a little emotional during the song Glory, about his 1-month-old daughter, Blue Ivy Carter. After the song, he said: "That was tough."

Fellow New Yorkers Alicia Keys and Nas joined Jay-Z onstage.

Ticket sales from the Carnegie Hall shows will benefit the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation and the United Way of New York City.

Jay-Z is the second hip-hop act to perform at the venue. Wyclef Jean did so in 2001.