Adult Swim’s upfront presentation “Owns the 9ight” was the hottest ticket you couldn’t buy thanks to Jay-Z, who provided the evening’s entertainment as the network announced its 2011-2012 lineup. The hip-hop mogul performed an hour-long set with a live band at New York’s Roseland Ballroom, bringing out Swizz Beatz for “On to the Next One.” But Mr. Carter had a bigger reason to be there. He is expected to announce a development deal with Adult Swim to create an original animated series. His peers Pharrell, Ne-Yo, Kid Cudi, and Fabolous were also on hand to rock with the Jiggaman.

The Adult Swim deal marks Jay-Z’s first foray into TV. In 2007, a consortium that included Harvey Weinstein, Sean “Diddy” Combs and the artist formerly known as Shawn Carter made a run at Comcast’s G4 network. At the time, the group looked to take over the gamer channel, with an eye toward creating a competitor to Viacom’s BET.