Seven years.

That's how long it has been since Jay-Z visited the 412.

All right, to be accurate, it was the 724. The famed Brooklyn rapper -- "best rapper alive" by his own measure and many others' -- actually found himself in the middle of a Burgettstown meadow on the Rock the Mic Tour with 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliott. As Jay-Z put it that night, "We tried to put all our egos aside to bring you the best show possible." (And it took a place that big to hold those egos.) It was July 2, 2003, and Jay-Z was supporting "The Blueprint 2" record, while also topping the charts with Beyonce on the one of the greatest-ever R&B/rap crossover hits, "Crazy in Love."

Four months later, Jay hit the charts again with his "retirement album," "The Black Album," and then rode off in the Bentley toward the sunset to spend the rest of his life playing golf and counting his fortune.

Or so everyone thought at the time.

Jay-Z, who plays the Mellon Arena tonight on the Blueprint 3 Tour, excels at a number of things, but aimless leisure activity does not seem to be one of them. The rapper -- whose real name is Shawn Carter -- has had one of the most productive retirements since Jimmy Carter.

Since 2003, the 40-year-old star has left the rap field in the dust, striking a middle ground between the gangsters and backpack rappers, and he has continued to conquer the music world at large, pushing his career front and center in the mainstream.

Since his last gig here, Jay-Z has:

• Followed "The Black Album" with three more acclaimed albums -- "Kingdom Come" (2006), "American Gangster" (2007) and "The Blueprint 3" (2009) -- that have run his streak of No. 1 albums to 11, surpassing the record set by Elvis Presley.

• Won nine Grammy awards, five MTV Video Music Awards, three American Music Awards and five BET Hip-Hop Awards, for starters.

• Went from "pauper to the president," taking a desk job for nearly four years as the president and CEO of Def Jam Records.

• Collaborated on a Grammy-winning mash-up with rap-metal band Linkin Park.

• Resolved his long-standing feud with Nas, even signing him to Def Jam.

• Become the first hip-hop artist to headline the Glastonbury Festival (in 2008).

• Struck a multimillion dollar deal with Live Nation, which includes his own imprint label Roc Nation.

• Produced the Broadway musical "Fela!" along with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith.

• Monitored such business ventures as the New Jersey Nets, The 40/40 Club and Rocawear, along with various real estate holdings.

• Closed the deal with Beyonce in a private ceremony in 2008.

• Raised awareness for global water shortage, among other philanthropic efforts.

• Raised his net worth to more than $150 million.

It will grow just a little tonight as thousands of Pittsburghers pitch in between $41 and $104.50 for the cause. What they'll get in return is Jay's unstoppable flow backed by a 10-piece band, including horns, over a 25-song set that hits about seven of the new tracks, while reaching back as far as 1998's "Vol. 2 ... Hard Knock Life." Singer Bridget Kelley, from the Roc Nation roster, will step up for that challenging Alicia Keys vocal on the new New York anthem "Empire State of Mind."

The set is interrupted in the middle with Young Jeezy popping up for "Real As It Gets" and holding down the stage with "Soul Survivor," "I Luv It" and other hits.

The BP3 Tour has made a few headlines along the way. In New York, rap's other superstar, Lil Wayne, on a one-day reprieve of his jail sentence, jumped on stage with Jeezy. In Washington, D.C., Jay-Z -- a former street hustler, as you'll recall -- got a tour with Beyonce of the White House from the president and first lady. Also in D.C., tour security generated a YouTube highlight demonstrating why it's a really bad idea for a fan to wander up on stage.

After Pittsburgh, BP3 heads west, climaxing in L.A. in late March and then encoring at the Coachella Festival.

In one of the rare interviews he has given during the "Blueprint 3" campaign, Jay-Z told Elvis Mitchell in Interview magazine that the album reflects the state of rap in 2010.

"I mean, 'Blueprint 3' is made up of songs, but it's also a commentary on the idea that in order for rap to survive, we have to stretch out the drama. We have to stretch out the audience. It can't be this narrow -- We have to stretch out the point of view. ... Rap is fairly young, but it's hitting this wall right now. It's not this new thing anymore. Everyone's heard it all before. So it's like, 'OK, what are we going to talk about now? Where are you going to go with this?' It can't just be about shock anymore. Before, it was all shock. ... It was all this rebellious energy. Now, that's not shocking anymore. We see the punch coming. So we've got to come up with something new. We gotta get on our game."

Critics Andrew Druckenbrod and Scott Mervis talk about music on "The Beat," available exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.