Made in America Music Festival: Everything you need to know about day one

Rain drop, show stop? I think not. Despite weather conditions, the Made in America music festival continued with performances from Cardi B, Migos, J Cole and more.

Budweiser’s annual music festival curated by Grammy Award-winning rapper and businessman, Shawn ‘Jay Z’ Carter, kicked off yesterday at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The two-day event features several stages with live performances from artists in hip hop, pop, rock and even EDM. The phrase “you don’t want to miss it” was taken literal during yesterday’s performances as even the pouring rain couldn’t stop fans from attending and enjoying the shows.

The park is divided by five stages including the Liberty Stage which showcased Lizzo, Francis and the Lights, Cardi B, Vic Mensa and Kaskade. While the Skate Stage included performances from Queen of Jeans, Flor, Mt. Joy, Mannequin Pussy, (Sandy) Alex G, J.I.D., Earthgang and Ugly God. The Tidal Stage, in the middle of the park, featured Ari Lennox, Karen Rodriguez, Nick Grant, Kodie Shane, Smino, They, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and Stormzy. Across from Tidal was the Freedom Stage where Devault, Kap Slap, London on da Track, Vanic, Dirty South, Salva and Cash Cash performed. The Rocky Stage was set for the headlining artists; below is a breakdown for some of those performances.

Migos

The Atlanta-raised rap trio completely rocked the Rocky Stage with, surprisingly, no surprise guests. The group opened with their recently certified gold single “Get Right Witcha” and other hits from the Culture album such as “Slippery,” “T-Shirt” and “Bad and Boujee”. Yet, a wave of excitement arose from the crowd when the group began to take a blast from the past performing songs from their previous albums. “Fight Night,” “Handsome and Wealthy,” and “Hannah Montana” appeared to be crowd favorites while the group finished their set with an encore freestyle rap performance to the “Bad and Boujee” instrumental.

Solange

Although she will always be referred to as “Beyonce’s little sister,” within the last year Solange has created her own artistic and neo-soul vibes to classify her musical reputation. The singer performed several songs from her number-one album, A Seat at the Table including “Cranes in the Sky,” “F.U.B.U,” “Don’t Touch My Hair” and more. During her 45 minute segment, Solange also graced the stage with theatrical choreography and voiced her concerns about the country’s politics and inequality.

J Cole

The North Carolina rapper and producer was the last headlining performer for the evening and closed the series of shows with a bang. Although the fans were drenched in rain, the rapper coincidentally opened with “For Whom the Bell Tolls” singing lyrics “I see the, I see the, I see the rain pouring down before my eyes…” Cole continued with songs from the 4 Your Eyez Only album, however, things got a little political after performing “Neighbors.” The rapper went on a 10 minute rant about SWAT police officers who raided and destroyed his suburban home for no apparent reason. Cole is convinced his neighbors called for the raid assuming his success was drug related. He then revealed to the audience the actual footage of the raid outside his home. Shortly after, Cole proceeded with popular hits from his early career such as “Lights Please,” “Power Trip,” “Can’t Get Enough” along with others. As the show came to an end, the rapper took us back to his 2014 Forest Hills Drive album with “Wet Dreamz” and “No Role Modelz” for the finale.