When Jay-Z walked into MTV's Video Music Awards, cameras and the roar of the crowd followed him all the way from his limo outside to the stage where he would perform. That same hype has followed Jay-Z to State College and a nearly sold-out concert at the Bryce Jordan Center.

To local hip-hop artists, Jay-Z's march through time as one of the genre's major players has had both a positive and a negative affect on the scene. And despite his affect on the industry as a whole, some local artists think his choice to start his tour in State College could mean a pick-me-up for the scene here in town.

The crossover artist

One of the things that separates Jay-Z from almost every other musician is his ability to transcend genres and audiences, local artists say.

"The Kennedys did it bootlegging, the same way they did it politically," said Bradley Arzner, who performs under the name Ave. "Jay-Z did it musically. When you look where he came from, he started off hustlin' in Brooklyn. He made his money and put it into music."

As Arzner sees it, some people get Jay-Z and some people don't. The megarapper has had one of the biggest impacts on the music scene as far as his crossover success, he said, and although other artists have expanded hip-hop further than him, they haven't garnered the same fame.

Jay-Z found a way to evolve appeal into other genres, as well as expand it into the suburbs, said Arzner's brother and rap partner Luke "L.V." Arzner.

"Back in the day, it was real preachy," Luke Arzner said. "He was able to expand the game, make it accessible to pop music fans and keep it lyrical all at the same time."

Hip-hop music today is so departed from its roots, it is hard to call it hip-hop anymore, Luke Arzner said. But Jay-Z's music still addresses social issues.

There's a song on one of Jay-Z's albums that tells the tale of a father and son who never even met one another living on the same block, which Luke Arzner said is just one of many that speaks to deeper subjects.

"And then he can go and do, "Big Pimpin'."

The music mogul

Like many other artists, Jay-Z has written songs that range between social issues and pure novelty.

For Chenjerai Kumanyika, a former hip-hop artist with recording act The Spooks, Jay-Z represents more than just fame and fortune.

His major successes have helped shape the direction of hip-hop in some negative ways as well, he said.

"It's a difficult topic for me to express a viewpoint about the complexities of someone like Jay-Z," Kumanyika (graduate-entertainment and media studies) said. "You're either forced into liking him or you end up the villian."

Jay-Z is a symbol of hip-hop capitalism and Kumanyika said he's worried about what that means for music. Kumanyika explained the evolution of what he called "McDonald's-style hip-hop."

Jay-Z came into his success with songs based on sex, drugs and egos, a kind of hip-hop that made a lot of money, Kumanyika said.

On the rapper's latest album, there's a song about fashion, a track that feeds consumerism, he said. That is the kind of hip-hop record executives started to look for, which made it harder for artists with other messages to make it, Kumanyika said.

"I'd just like to see more diversity -- you turn on the radio and everybody sounds like T-Pain," Kumanyika said. "It's pseudo-diversity. I get to choose from a lot of different version of the same thing. It's like, I get to choose from all these different menu items at McDonald's, but I never travel to any other restaurants."

Andrew Jackson (sophomore-human development) is an emcee for Atlas Soundtrack, a group that spans hip-hop, reggae and rock. Jackson said he thinks Jay-Z has a nice blend of musical messages. It's hard to distinguish these artists as one thing or another because they all have different things to say, he said.

"His music is coming from personal experience -- the stories he tells are indicative of the background he's come from," Jackson said. "You have to have a good blend of club bangers and music with substance and a good amount of lyrical content."

Kumanyika said he is a fan of '90s hip-hop, a time where he could go to the record store and have his choice of Public Enemy, NWA, Cypress Hill and Jay-Z. There was a powerful voice for certain kinds of social critique, and now people don't want to hear anything that might mess up their "high," he said.

Kumanyika thinks Jay-Z is worried about the negative effects capitalism has had on the industry as well: In his latest releases, he's made an effort to be more artistic.

"I don't want to blame Jay-Z for the downfall of hip-hop," Kumanyika said. "I think that he's tremendously talented, but the choices that he's made have taken hip-hop in a direction I don't like."

But despite his dislike for some of the things Jay-Z has done, Kumanyika admits he has to respect a 39-year-old artist who can stay relevant in a genre where artists are expected to fade out

And Jackson is hesitant to lay too much blame at Jay-Z's feet. Some songs are going to be flashier than others, he said, and that's just the way the industry is set up.

Not only has Jay-Z had a huge impact on music, but he's also been a positive role model for the black youth in inner city neighborhoods, he said.

Hip-hop's place in State College

Bradley Arzner said it's eye-opening that State College can bring a hip-hop artist to the community and have the show nearly sell out. That said, he doesn't think bars and other venues will follow suit.

"I think people will entertain the idea, but I doubt much will come from it," Bradley Arzner said. "After it's over, everyone will go back to their comfortable ways with cover bands. The bars here have been surviving for years with cover bands."

Jackson thinks any light shone on the hip-hop industry here in State College is positive, but he suspects the mindset of the bar owners is, "Why fix what's not broken?"

The Jay-Z show could affect the local hip-hop scene in one of two ways, Luke Arzner said. Either local bars and venues will see that a hip-hop group can bring huge audiences and book more groups, or they will just recognize Jay-Z as a huge artist despite the genre.

He sees potential for a hip-hop scene here in town, but he says people just don't come together to make it more powerful. To that end, he hopes the Jay-Z concert will draw out hip-hop fans who might help promote the local scene.

Both Luke and Bradley Arzner agreed that The 797 Lounge, 224 W. College Ave., has really helped to concentrate a stronger hip-hop presence in town. Jackson said Zeno's General Manager David Staab has also taken a chance in supporting hip-hop in State College.

Another potential positive is that other major artists might follow in Jay-Z's tracks and pick Penn State to start their tours, Luke Arzner said. State College might be seen more like a growing city rather than just a college town, he added.

One thing local artists agreed on is the fact that the uproar surrounding the performance Friday has less to do with Jay-Z's music and more to do with his fame.

"They might not know two songs that he's done, but just because their friends say he's the stuff, they are probably going to follow suit," Jackson said. "College students are impressionable -- they tend to do what the majority does."

Luke Arzner agreed, saying college students probably see the fame and the money and buy into the hype.

"It's bringing Penn State in the center of pop culture," Kumanyika said. "The media is constructing this event as a big part of history. I don't know that it is, but students want to be in on it."