Beyonce Knowles' husband gave Philadelphia a 90-minute set, delivering some of his songs including '99 Problems', 'Dirt Off Your Shoulder' and 'Empire State of Mind'.
- Sep 3, 2012
AceShowbiz - The crowd of nearly 50,000 people in Philadelphia, PA was treated to a live Rocky-like moment as rap superstar and mogul Jay-Z made his way through the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. The Brooklyn Nets' part-owner surprised the crowd as he bounced up and down while his song "Made in America" was playing in the background. He performed "99 Problems", "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" and "Empire State of Mind" among other songs.
After he performed "Public Service Announcement", the first cameo appearance of the nights played via a pre-recorded video. It was the President of the United States, Barack Obama, now known over the internet as POTUS, encouraging the crowd to vote for him this coming election. Part of Mr. President's video also referred to Jay-Z's story as "what Made In America means," pertaining to the famous rapper's rags-to-riches story.
The music festival, which was being filmed as part of a documentary, was also graced by other artists. Pusha T and Big Sean gave performances, and Kim Kardashian's rapper boyfriend Kanye West appeared on stage as well. Some of the songs that they played included "Mercy", "Dance" and "Can't Tell Me Nothing".
Ron Howard, who would direct the documentary, said that what they were going to have was not a concert film. He was quoted as saying, "[It's] a reflection of the fabric of what it means to be Made in America -- what the festival represents, why Jay is doing it and how he relates to each artist."
After Jay-Z kicked off the 2-day music festival on Saturday, September 1, the gig continued on Sunday. It was made merry by performances from Afrojack and DJ Shadow in the Freedom Tent, The Hives and Gary Clark in the Liberty Stage, and Drake, Santigold and Jill Scott in Rocky Stage.
Jay-Z is married to former Destiny's Child member Beyonce Knowles, and is now a father to 7-month old baby Blue Ivy. His next tour date will be on September 28 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
