Fans from all over the U.S. came to Philadelphia in herds to experience the sixth annual Made In America Festival on Saturday (Sept 2nd) in the gloomy weather complete with mud baths, grass flowing down the street, while fans poured in to see this year’s biggest acts in music. Headlining this year’s festival was J.Cole (Sept 2nd) & Jay-Z (Sept 3rd). Made in America has returned for year six of the incredible festival put together by masterminds Jay-Z, ESM Productions, Steve Stoute, and RocNation.
Launching day 1 on The Rocky Stage was the newest force in hip-hop North Carolina’s Rapsody, who was the perfect start to the day with an energetic set getting the crowd excited for the hip-hop/rap heavy lineup. Exploding onto the Liberty Stage to begin the day on Liberty Stage was Lizzo, her set filled with confidence and self-empowerment getting the crowd dancing with some of her anthem singles like “Phone” and “Good As Hell.” Each of her songs with a fitting dance routine perfectly choreographed with her dancers who were dressed in skin tone body suits with pink tassels which perfectly matched Lizzo’s neon colored tight fitting body suit. Marian Hill taking to the Rocky Stage for a set in the pouring rain which made for a unique effect during their set opening with their smash hit “Down” which can be heard flooding radio stations near you.
Francis and The Lights and Sampha then conquering Made In America Festival for a briefly over an hour with very energy filled sets. Cardi B then taking over the Liberty Stage with a set that had drawn in thousands of fans to come see as one of the most anticipated artists to see live today with her smash hit now certified gold single, “Bodak Yellow.” Her set filled with lots of DJ’ed material of other artists songs but also heavy on Cardi B’s latest singles. The crowd loved every moment of her set screaming the words back at her, definitley would be one of the loudest crowds of Saturday’s performances.
Migos then taking control of The Rocky Stage for an hour of hits, as it seems everyone of their singles become massive hits that conquer the radio stations in the area. Launching by stating “The stage is wet, but we don’t give a f**k cuz we’re gonna make it slippery,” Quavo said. Ending out their set with their Billboard Hot 100 #1 single “Bad & Boujee” which really excited fans. Solange then empowering the crowd with her very powerful message to the crowd, dancing her way through her set evening issuing a PSA for the racists who may be in the crowd. Solange saying “We got Neo-Nazis out here with citronella sticks, looking like some tiki damn fools, We got anti-gay and lesbian, anti-Muslim folks out here, and we’re not allowed to be mad. We got Confederate statues looking everywhere at our black asses, but we’re not allowed to be mad. We got f–kboys at every corner, but we’re not allowed to be mad.” The rain was not stopping Solange’s dance moves, or killing her style complete with luscious curls. The downpour of rain that began just as Kaskade started his flashy energy filled set with fans dancing and jumping to his blend of hit songs which fans really enjoyed. Kaskade even paid tribute to the late Chester Bennington by mixing in some Linkin Park tunes during his set.
Finishing out day 1 was J.Cole over on the Rocky Stage, it began as Cole was brought out of what appeared to be a jail cell on stage by police officers commanding him over to the microphone. The stage was designed to look like a jail yard with streetlights, boxing bags, cameras, and the jail cell fencing. J.Cole told the crowd in between songs 2 & 3,”Y’all make some noise for being out here in this f–king rain, We in the middle of a tour. We ain’t do Philly cuz we knew we were gonna do this shit right here.” Surprising the crowd with Ari Lennox, to perform “Change” with him during his almost 2 hour set in the down pouring rain which did not stop him or the fans in attendance from giving their all. Performing his hits blending into his setlist with material heavy from his latest record, For Your Eyez Only. Check out our exclusive photos of the event below.
The post Made In America Fest: J.Cole Soaks Fans with Fierce Set, Solange Delivers, Kaskade Excites [Day 1] appeared first on Music Mayhem Magazine.