The Brooklyn Paper reports:

Rap mogul Jay-Z will christen the Barclays Center when the under-construction $1-billion home for the Brooklyn-bound Nets opens on the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues next fall.

The hip hop star, who owns a very small portion of the basketball team, will headline the venue's first performance during a three-week grand opening at the Prospect Heights arena in September, 2012, according to a source familiar with the plan.

Jay-Z is set to announce the dates at a press conference at the Barclays Center on Monday -- where Nets officials are expected to unveil a new team name.

It will be a "major announcement," Nets CEO Brett Yormark tweeted.

Jay-Z & Kanye West @ GQ party, NYC - Sept 18, 2007

For whatever reason I find this really interesting: Jay-Z wants to rename New Jersey's Continental Arena after his Rocawear clothing company. The arena is currently home to the New Jersey Nets basketball team and the New Jersey Devils hockey team. What's odd is that Jay-Z is part of the ownership group that will take the Nets to Brooklyn soon (probably in time for the 2009-2010 season). Why would a part-owner of a Brooklyn-headed NBA team want his name on an arena in Jersey? Beats me. That horrible arena should be bulldozed ASAP, by the way. [Coolfer]