Update: Jay-Z to Curate and Headline Made In America Music Festival in Philadelphia

As expected on Monday (May 14), Jay-Z announced that he will headline and curate the upcoming Budweiser Made In America festival to be held during Labor Day Weekend, September 1 and 2. The previous day, on Sunday (May 13), The New York Times’ Arts Beat blog accurately reported what news would be.

Joined by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Freeway—one of the several Philly MCs Hov helped sign during his Rocafella days—Jay made the announcement from atop the famous Rocky steps of the Philadelphia Museum on Monday morning.

“Everybody knows my love affair with Philly from the great artists I've signed from here," Jay-Z told the crowd. "Whenever I enter into a project I try to hit some touch points. Is it great? Is it going to push the culture forward?"

At one point during Jay’s speech, a voice in the crowd shouted, “You’re the best, Hov.”

“I agree,” he replied right on cue. "It's going to be a great day in Philly," he said in conclusion. And that's pretty much a spiel."

“Philadelphia is a great music town, everybody knows that,” Nutter added.

The two were joined onstage by Philly native Freeway and representatives from The United Way, which a percentage of the music festival’s proceeds will go toward.

The Made In America music festival is scheduled to feature about 30 different artists, of course being headlined by Jay himself.

Last week, hip-hop fans learned that Philly rapper Meek Mill signed to Jay’s Roc Nation for management.—Mark Lelinwalla