Jay-Z didn't make it to the top of hip-hop's hierarchy without taking risks, and on Wednesday he continued to push the envelope with his craft when he executed a quirky performance-art rendition of his song Picasso Baby from his Magna Carta Holy Grail album.

The performance took place at the Pace Gallery in Manhattan, New York City. The show is supposedly being filmed for the music video for Picasso Baby. The video is one of the 6 pieces of art that will accompany the new album, which Jay-Z mentioned on Monday during his spontaneous Twitter Q&A. Several videos from the event have been posted on social media sites, some more bizarre than others.

Camera phones captured the Brooklyn rapper interacting with the small gathering of invited guests at the event, and even dancing with a few female fans as he raps. In one video Jay-Z takes a seat while a dancer executes impressive moves to the song's base-heavy instrumentals.

The most unorthodox video, however, features an elderly lady, who wears a cast on her foot, riding around the border of the performance space on a scooter, while Mr. Cater is rapping. In the clip, the Brooklyn emcee even looks astounded by her presence and seems to smile awkwardly.

But performance art is supposed to be experimental and spontaneous, as evidence by the recent showcase from Marina Abramović. Abramović is the most famous contemporary performance artist. For her The Artist is Present installation she sat across from visitors for a minute at New York City's MoMA museum.

One has to wonder what else Jay-Z has planned to promote his new album. The rapper has been pushing his new slogan "new rules," which refers to his unprecedented deal with Samsung to release the Magna Carta to a million of the company's Galaxy smartphone users before it arrived in stores. The performance today can definitely also be filed under the "new rules" slogan.

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Jay-Z