Jay-Z coming to Shanghai ... or is he?

Fans of rap and hip-hop, take this down: Jay-Z is coming to Shanghai. Probably. The Grammy-winning rapper reportedly will be performing at the Hongkou Soccer Stadium on Monday, October 23, as part of a tour that will also see him making stops in Taipei and Seoul, according to Shanghai Daily.

Jay-Z's agent contacted us two months ago. And we decided to cooperate after seeing that Black Eyed Peas was a box-office success last month," said Sun, "Jay-Z is the leading trendsetter in American hiphop. He's more highly regarded than the Black Eyed Peas in the same industry.

However, conflicting information from his label's own site also has him listed as playing Singapore ... on the very same night. Unless Jay-Z plans to magically perform at back-to-back concerts, there are either going to be a lot of unhappy Singaporean fans or a bunch of crushed Shanghaiers.

This upcoming tour was announced a couple weeks ago, when Jay revealed that he would be partnering up with the UN for a campaign aimed at "bringing attention and relief to the many parts of the world where lack of safe drinking water is destroying communities and lives." A documentary will air on MTV in November.

"It's a huge responsibility, and humbling at the same time," Jay said, after the [UN] conference, about the role he's taking on. "I wanted to go to these [countries I've never visited before] to just tour and play music. Of course, I can't go to any place without touching the culture and seeing what's going on."

There's no word on whether anyone from the Roc-A-Fella family will tag along for the fun, but there's a very good chance that his girlfriend will be in attendance.

Arguably the greatest rapper alive (if he does say so himself), Jay-Z is a rap icon that has remained relevant for more than a decade in the industry. In 1996, he released his first album, Reasonable Doubt (which was recently performed in its entirety for a 10-year anniversary concert at Radio City Music Hall), and reached his commercial peak in 1998 with Vol. 2, Hard Knock Life. His most recent album (the Grammy-winning Black Album) was supposed to be his last, but that'll probably change the way things are going these days. Although the man is supposed to be retired from music right now, he's been quite busy lately. A mash-up EP with Linkin Park. Producing. Performing at Live 8. Cameo appearances (Kanye West, Beyonce). Being voted best rapper ever. Keeping track of his clothing line. Part-owning a basketball team. It seems that the CEO of Def Jam didn't get the memo about his own retirement.

On October 23rd, if all goes well, Shanghai will trump Singapore. Keep an eye out.

Jay-Z at Hongkou Soccer Stadium, October 23, 2006 at 19:30. Ticket prices range from 100 to 800 RMB.

More ticket information here.