What a weekend, am I right? Made in America Festival kicked off Labor Day Weekend in the stunning culture-driven city of Philadelphia. The festival celebrated its 10th year active, being curated by rap legend Jay-Z in collaboration with LiveNation. An amazing lineup mixed with great weather and D’USSE?! Not only that, but the festival returned with a banging headliner list, with the artistic west coast artist Tyler, The Creator and the biggest Latinx artist in the WORLD, Bad Bunny!
You can’t beat those type of vibes!
As the first day went on, you saw around the festival grounds a bunch of activities to get into: a Ferris wheel, face painting, a lively fête with Caribbean dancers, a petting animals area and, of course, indulgence in good Philly eats! This year’s lineup was versatile, ranging from sensational hip hop artists, melodic R&B singers and rhythmic Latinx artists, who absolutely rocked the stages such as Babyface Ray, Young Nudy, Key Glock, Kodak bLack, Don Toliver, JID, Pusha T, Lil Uzi Vert and many others! But, it didn’t stop there! We can’t forget about our R&B stars that serenaded the thousands of fans screaming their names, like Kalan.FRFR, Ambré, Snoh Aalegra and Philly’s own Jazmine Sullivan.
Saturday’s first performance was singer-songwriter and Atlanta’s very own DIXSON. DIXSON (born Darius Scott) has been a huge impact to the music industry, with collaborations with Vic Mensa all the way to artists such as Tinashe, Chance the Rapper, Pharrell and Beyoncé. The multi-talented artist took his career to new heights with his first solo performance at Made in America Festival this weekend!
With the day hitting the ground running full force, more notable Saturday performances were from stars such as Larry June, Babyface Ray, Lil Uzi Vert, JID and Jazmine Sullivan. You could feel the energy from the crowd from when the gates opened to the last performance of the day. They were ready for anything and everything the artists showcased. Artists like JELEEL!, Glorilla and Flo Milli had the Freedom Stage rocking! Fans showed up and showed out their support; it was nothing less than memorable.
Philly’s own award-winning Jazmine Sullivan had huge crowd anticipation. With her hit album Heaux Tales, she moved the crowd with her soulful energy and performance. Being a two-time GRAMMY winner, she made sure to put her all in for the city. She kept going for hit after hit and the crowd absolutely loved every last second of it. As you heard the crowd sing along to every song, you can see that Sullivan’s heart was full — her city was showing her so much love and excitement.
Another Philly native, Lil Uzi Vert, was the last set before Tyler, the Creator and that could not have been a better ending to the night! With Lil Uzi Vert’s release of the Red & White EP, the crowd was itching to hear the showcase of new songs. He entered the stage with a super creative mohawk hairstyle that matched the set of his electric performance! The energy kept on rising as Uzi performed throughout the night, which helped lead into the headliner.
GRAMMY Award-winning Tyler, The Creator moved the crowd with his spectacular set design. As he entered the stage, climbing up the mountainous design, the crowd roared in excitement and enthusiasm as he went straight into his award-winning album Call Me If You Get Lost, as well as some of his previous hit songs like “IHFY”, “Boredom” and “Who Dat Boy”. The rapper paid homage to Jill Scott, noting that her body of work is a huge influence on his music to this day.
Day Two was all gas no breaks, with headliner Bad Bunny and many international artists, such as Burna Boy, Fuerza Regida, Chimabala, as well as R&B artists Snoh Aalegra and Victoria Monet. Bad Bunny’s set was, of course, the most anticipated event of the day, with fans waiting since 11am to see him rock the show. With a roaring performance, the audience was heavily pleased with the way Bad Bunny showcased. Performing songs like “Moscow Mule“ and “Tití me Pregunto”, the latin grooves were flowing freely through the whole night. To note, Day Two held a way larger audience: approx. 20,000 more people showed up to show their pride and diverse music taste.
Dominican rappers Chimabala and Fuerza Regida created history as the first Mexican hip hop group at Made in America.
The stunningly beautiful R&B artist Snoh Aalegra gave the audience “those feelings again” with her performance of “I Want Around” and “Find Someone Like You”. R&B singer and songwriter Victoria Monet gave us nothing less than a show! With precise choreographed moves to limitless vocals, Monet showed her true talents! International superstar Burna Boy gave us an exhilarating performance from start to finish, setting the pace for Bad Bunny’s closing performance.
Made in America Festival 2022 was a huge success, which is of no surprise as it was created by musical genius Jay-Z. It pushed the narrative “to bring music and culture together” by showcasing international superstars in a city so heavily cultured in music heritage. It showed us that we, as a people, can come together and share one of the most beautiful things — music. To see more fire from around the fest, stay tuned for our daily galleries to come or visit the links below.
Photography by Anthony McCray
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