Jay-Z’s ‘Made in America Festival’

03 Sep, 2012

Jay-Z wrapped his Made in America Festival on Sunday, giving Philadelphia and the fans who watched via livestream something to remember.

On the opening night of his Made in America Festival, Jay-Z delivered a headlining set that included appearances from Kanye West, G.O.O.D. Music and even a PSA from President Obama, so Sunday night (September 2) found him enjoying the remaining sets. Still, he had to make at least one more brief appearance before the event wrapped, and that happened during Pearl Jam’s closing set.

Before the Seattle grunge rock band took the stage for the final performance of the weekend, Drake had treated fans to a few of his own hits. The YMCMB rapper was dressed in all white, save for the gold OVO symbol on his shirt, possibly getting in his last all-white outfit in before Labor Day. He opened things up with a snippet of his Rick Ross-featured Take Care track “Lord Knows” before delivering some bars on “Underground Kings” and bringing back memories of last summer with his hook on DJ Khaled’s anthem “I’m On One.”

It’s doubtful that Drake could do a set these days without performing “Crew Love,” another crowd favorite, but after getting through a few of his own tracks he summoned 2 Chainz to the stage, with a grand introduction, to take things a little South. The Atlanta rapper was making his second appearance in as many days, after joining Kanye West and G.O.O.D. Music for “Mercy” during Jay-Z’s Saturday night set. And although the crowd was excited to see him on the previous night as well, his entrance had been marred by some mic difficulties after Kanye West skipped his own verse, and maybe that’s what triggered Drake to add, “That’s how you bring out 2 Chainz.”

Saving 2 Chainz the trouble of plugging his own album, Drake made it known that Based on A T.R.U. Story had just dropped and gave a sample of it with “No Lie.” And since 2 Chainz was around anyway, it seemed only right that he’d take some time out for his cult favorite “Spent It.”

French Montana was up next, hitting the stage for “Pop That” and Rich Forever’s “Stay Schemin'” while hamming it up with Drake. Both French and 2 Chainz recently joined Drake on his Club Paradise tour, as did Meek Mill who, unfortunately, didn’t make it for Drake’s set. The Philly native was on deck to perform with MMG the previous day, but some fans were certainly hoping to see the two rappers team up for a live rendition of hisDreamchasers 2 single “Amen.” Drake was more than energetic throughout his set, practically bouncing around while encouraging fans to give it up for the legendary rockers coming up.

When Pearl Jam took the stage for their set before 9pm it was still raining lightly, as it had been throughout the day, but that didn’t slow down them down. Most of the hip-hop fans had ebbed from the festival site on Benjamin Franklin Parkway after Drake left the stage, but Jay-Z made one final appearance, joining Pearl Jam for a rock heavy rendition of “99 Problems” that went over well.

Over the course of the weekend, Jay-Z seemed to enjoy watching the success of his eclectic lineup of performers which ranged Miike Snow to Jay Electronica, Odd Future to Skrillex and Drake to Pearl Jam. He’d gathered many hometown favorites including Meek Mill, Jill Scott (who was joined by Eve) and Santigold plus some international favorites like his Roc Nation artist Rita Ora. According to festival organizers there’s a good chance of seeing a repeat festival next year, and in the meantime fans will be able to catch the upcoming Made in America documentary, directed by Imagine Entertainment partners Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.

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