S. Samuel
Rap mogul Jay Z has stayed true to his promise of releasing a highly anticipated documentary on the now-annual Made In American music festival in Philadelphia with its premiere Friday (October 11) night.
The 90-minute Showtime exclusive features Young Hov revealing intimate festival information and also takes viewers into his pre-fame days.
Jay Z takes music lovers behind-the-scenes during one of the year’s biggest concerts, the “Made In America” festival in Philadelphia. Captured by acclaimed director Ron Howard, the rapper-mogul and curator of the two-day event brings us closer to the action in a 90-minute documentary which debuted on Showtime. The Brooklyn MC and Howard give viewers their thoughts leading up to the inaugural show in 2012, along with perspectives from festival security guards, crew members, promoters, food vendors, and the mayor of Philadelphia Michael Nutter. It captures Jay Z as he prepares for his headling set, along with artists such as Jill Scott, Odd Future, Rita Ora, Pearl Jam, Skrillex, Run DMC, Janelle Monáe, and more sharing their stories before hitting the stage at Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The film also captures Jay Z heading to his old apartment, the now famous 560 State Street in Brooklyn, where he observes the new Barclays Center with a beautiful view. (Miss Info TV)
Details of the Ron Howard-directed flick getting picked up by Showtime bubbled online back in late August.
In keeping with its bid for cultural relevancy, the premium cable network has acquired Made in America, the star-studded documentary that chronicled Jay Z’s two-day 2012 Philadelphia music festival of the same name. The doc, which is directed by Ron Howard and executive produced by the music mogul, Howard and his Imagine Entertainment producing partner Brian Grazer, will have its television debut Friday, Oct. 11. (Hollywood Reporter)
While fans had to wait until now for it to arrive on Showtime, the film made its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival last month.
Howard’s documentary is described as a backstage pass to the event. It includes some of the performers’ stories on how they are “making it in America.” The film is expected to tell the Jay Z’s reasons for starting the festival and give an inside look into the performers who took part. It will debut Sept. 7 at the Toronto International Film Festival. (CBS News)
This year’s Made In America festival featured a mesh of music genres along with past and present performers.
Jay-Z is bringing the Made in America festival back to Philadelphia, and organizers have just revealed the official lineup. The Made in America festival will again take place on Labor Day weekend on the Ben Franklin Parkway. – Beyonce – Nine Inch Nails – Public Enemy – Calvin Harris – Florence Welch – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Skrillex – Deadmau5 – Drake – Kendrick Lamar – Miguel – Queens of the Stone Age – Haim – 2 chainz – Wiz Khalifa – Nero – Ab-Soul – Solange – The Gas Light Anthem – Emili Sande – A$AP Rocky & Schoolboy Q – Walk the Moon – Jesse Rose – Fitz and The Tantrums – Wolfgang Gartner – AlunaGeorge – Feed Me & Crystal Fighter – Jay Rock – 3LAU – Imagine Dragons – Birdy Nam Nam – Redlight – Rudimental – Phoenix – TJR (ABC Local)
Last year, Young Hov relied on some high-profile performances courtesy of rock legends like Pearl Jam and Drake to ignite the inaugural Made In America festival.
During a festival that operated like clockwork, Drake came out five minutes early. The rapper’s meteoric rise and two massively successful albums earned him a mainstage spot headlining for Pearl Jam, and he rifled through a medley of hits in front of easily the largest crowd of the day. Dressed all in white, he delivered the same levels of melodrama live as on his records, with the wailing guitar solos and cymbal crashes only adding to the display of emotion on stage. “I don’t need no water, I don’t need a break. I’m ready to do this,” he told the crowd, before bringing out collaborator 2 Chainz to drop a raucous version of summer smash No Lie. 2 Chainz hijacked the stage to perform Spend It, and minutes after he walked off the stage, Drake introduced French Montana to perform Pop That. (USA Today)
