Hi guys! I hope everyone is well and adjusting to the fact that it’s colder and the year is almost done. Firstly I just want to highlight the atrocities that happened in Las Vegas on that Monday and offer condolences to those affected by the shooting. People are afraid to call it what it is, but I’ll tell you that I don’t need any dictionary or news correspondent to let you know that what happened was nothing short of terrorism. Don’t let the lack of knowledge on that sadistic coward’s agenda fool you, because if a tan, bearded guy with my Muslim names did the same, what would they call it? They won’t call it a party, that’s for sure! It’s funny because as I wrote this paragraph, Kendrick Lamar’s “XXX.” came on and he said “ain’t no black power when a coward come and kill your son”. A similar rhetoric applies here.
Alas, I’m not here to slander America because you see atrocities happen all over the world. I’m just happy I don’t have to live in a place where I can buy a glock from my local Walmart. So, everyone wants the lowdown on Made In America Festival since that’s all I was talking about for weeks before it came and went. I can do that. I’m also here to try to encourage people to go to festivals abroad as MIA Fest wasn’t my first festival abroad. Thankfully my memory won’t fail me as I recollect.
MIA Fest! Joint partnership between Budweiser and Jay Z. Which explains why every year we see appearances from Roc Nation artists or artists that have some sort of rapport with Hov. It also explains why the only alcoholic beverage you can purchase there is Budweiser! I mean come on, who drinks that slime? My guy Yemi bought a can for $13 and had to phone a friend for help. Unfortunately that friend was me and I promise you, I’ll never drink Bud again. Unfortunately this was a lie because my mate Leeanne (actual spelling) gave me a Budweiser at A2's visual presentation in YouTube Space London (you missed out). Makes Hennessy taste like Snapple Lemonade for sure!
But yes, sorry, back to the festival. I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t see a lot of the acts on the bill. There were a lot of acts but we (aka my mates and not me 🙂) had a fixed idea of who they wanted to see that weekend and I was with it. My saving grace was that I either didn’t know who these acts were or that I’d heard enough of their music to not care about seeing them. I can’t lie though, I wish I got to see DMX impersonating someone’s pet Doberman on stage.
The scale of the festival was immense! People that think Wireless is a big deal need to go to Made In America because they’ll be mind blown. I remember when I first went to Wireless in 2013 with Kwaku, Des and Deb and we thought it was massive as it was in the Olympic Park. There were at least four stages and different attractions for when people’s desired acts weren’t on stage yet – very cute for a festival where attendance is estimated at 15–20,000 a day. Made In America now? Without estimated or official figures, I reckon it knocks the Wireless attendance figures out the park. Even with only two days. Funfair rides, sports bars, all sorts of attractions over a vast space, it just didn’t make sense. The entry was a lot smoother as well. But hey, the blog must go on.
That Saturday got off to a terrible start because from when we finished the two hour coach journey, it took ages to check into our hotel. Then it took ages for them to allocate us a room, the whole process took around three hours – you’d think this was the first time that Made In America was held in Philly. We had to wait for over 100 people to get rooms before us and it was just a shambles but I don’t like to complain too much.
Luckily, Benjamin Franklin Parkway was a short walk from our hotel. By the time we reached the venue, it was easy enough to get our wristbands and catch some of the Migos set. If you’ve seen Migos before then you know that they don’t need to do much on stage to get a crowd lit. Their music caters to hype and energy, which is cool because no one wants to hear Common in the club. And I love Common. Migos ran through all their big hits, old and new, which made for a really enjoyable set. We tried to catch A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie but we got there when he performed Drowning. That was the end of that.
However, as we were a strong London contingent, we had to stay at that stage because none other that Stormzy himself came to rock the stage. Coming on in a #Merky tracksuit, his imposing frame standing over the strong Grime loving contingent. He started his set with First Things First and then performed Cold, Big For Your Boots, Shut Up and a few other tunes. Everyone loved it, even the Canadian guys we saw on the Sunday and at Geno’s Steaks. We even found more Londoners but nobody was gonna do damage in my moshpit like me and my bros; it’s even tradition.
After his set we didn’t know what to do with ourselves really, the weather started showing no mercy on all the courageous people that wore tees and shorts (aka me). It was muddy and pouring, my poor Vans got the brunt of the bad weather while we watched Solange on the big screen. She’s actually a great performer with presence; I’m glad she has her own persona and style that differs from her big sister Beyoncé. I couldn’t tell you what songs she performed as I hadn’t listened to her last album too heavily (I will correct this) but I enjoyed every soaking minute. We tried to wait for J. Cole but at this point it looked like a monsoon and I’m not that big of a J. Cole fan to wait for him in the rain and mud so we left. On the way out we bumped into so many t-shirt vendors, one of them even ran away because the police were local haha! Everybody is tryna make money in America; the land of the capitalist.
Onto Sunday and the weather was a lot more forgiving, yay! Got to the venue in time to catch some of 21 Savage’s set. We got there and thought the set was done so we turned around… then he started performing Bad Business. I promise you I was jumping around like the engine of the hellcat that 21 was rapping about. I grabbed Kwaku and the Canadian boys and all you could hear was me yelling “HELLCAT SPEED RACING (speed racing), SUCK IT TILL YOUR KNEES ACHING (knees aching)”. We were drunk and in the mood to enjoy. He then played X and Bank Account before he left the stage. I can’t lie to you people, his set wasn’t great but for a guy that spends his time shifting Amber Rose’s kidneys and drinking codeine, it could’ve been worse!
Then 808's and heartbreak came. No not Kanye West, Wizkid bloody pulled out from the festival! We were all heartbroken and even me that wasn’t an Afrobeats fan (alcohol and girls with big bum helped) I wanted him to come and bless us for the culture. Anyway, Maleek Berry came on and he’s a good artist, but he should just not do live sets. Freeway (yes that legend Freeway) came on halfway through the set and even brought on one of his protégés. Personally I thought Freeway was hype but to let a rapper come on to perform five songs during your set in the name of paying homage? Miss me with all that! My guys didn’t enjoy the Maleek Berry set but I did 🙂 (it’s tight).
Immediately after, KYLE came on the stage and gave the second best performance I had seen all weekend. He came out to Doubt It and his energy was just awesome. If you don’t know who KYLE is, he’s a rapper from California. People call him a B grade Drake but I enjoy his raps and his slight humility. He also has a lisp and I’m biased when it comes to lisps (if you have a problem with that, take it up with Mike Tyson). I didn’t catch all of the set because we were trying to find things to do for after the festival and we kept bumping into groups of girls. The only drawback with set times is that if you don’t know many of the acts performing, you’ll either be trying something new or walking around for a while. Thankfully this wasn’t the case for too long because we got to the main stage before Jay Z came on. Before that day I had seen Jay Z perform three times, twice at Wireless 2013 and once more a few months later for his Magna Carter World Tour. Every time I saw him live he had his swagger about but always looked jaded, like (relatively) old age was catching up to him. Not this time.
This guy performed 38 songs. THIRTY EIGHT!!! We couldn’t believe it. He came out to Bam with Damien Marley singing the hook which was a nice touch. This guy looked like he was fresh off a long holiday in the Bahamas, in his fitted and white hoodie looking like the cool uncle. You’d never think that he and Solange’s sister (zing!) just welcomed twins into the world, but the man was refreshed!
He did every song you could possibly think of at the top of your head both old and new; Where I’m From, Marcy Me (loved this performance), Beach Is Better, Niggas In Paris, Big Pimpin’ (a staple at his live shows), 99 Problems, literally everything! I’ll run through his setlist at the end. It was honestly a 10 out of 10 performance from Hov and I applaud him for being so engaging with everyone in the crowd (again another staple). He even brought out Meek Mill – admittedly I missed this part because I thought the show was done, but I saw from the distance. Plus let’s face it, Meek Mill can be heard from Nigeria! It was worth braving the rain, the long coach journey and the $170 Uber trip from Philadelphia to New Jersey – I still wanna vomit at the expense! But you know me, money is temporary, I’m an experiences kinda guy.
Of course this was only the second time I’ve been abroad for a festival. In August 2015 I went to Appelsap in Amsterdam, The Netherlands with three friends and it was awesome. I got to see Skepta (seen him more than my own dad in the last 15 years wow), Stormzy, Mobb Deep (rest in peace Prodigy) and took in a few Dutch trap acts. It wasn’t just about going to the festival, it was about experiencing a different culture, interacting with strangers and coming out of your comfort zone. It’s important for your development and growth. I would tell everyone to do it at least once – whether it’s in Europe or beyond – you never know who you’ll meet or what opportunities you’ll come across.
I apologise to Tonte and Burnz, they’ve been waiting for this for a hot minute and they’re loyal to the soil. But life always gets in the way of me being a constant presence on Medium. But I’ll leave you with some tips for braving MIA Fest.
- Be prepared for every weather condition within reason
- Stay hydrated
- Travel in a medium sized group and make sure at least two people have data in case one group turns into two
- Bring money. It’s obvious but you’d be surprised
- Be aware of your surroundings because tourists who are naive in another country are an opportunity to eat.
- Be an extrovert
- Have fun
- Don’t wear trainers that you care about.
- Sam
PS. I commend Eminem for calling out Trump but my boys YG and Nipsey Hussle did it first, they deserve their props. I hate the “White Saviour” narrative but it is what it is.
PPS. The setlist
- Bam
- PSA
- Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)
- Caught Their Eyes
- No Church in the Wild
- Lucifer
- Run This Town
- Where I’m From
- Marcy Me
- Empire State of Mind
- Fuckwithmeyouknowigotit
- Beach Is Better
- Family Feud
- U Don’t Know
- Moonlight
- The Story of O.J.
- Niggas In Paris
- Jigga My Nigga
- Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
- Dirt Off Your Shoulder
- On to the Next One
- I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)
- Big Pimpin’
- Happy Birthday to You (Mildred J. Hill & Patty Hill cover)
- 99 Problems
- Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)
- Numb/Encore
- Young, Gifted and Black
- Pump It Up (Freestyle)
- The Best of Me
- I Know (angry I missed this)
- Show You How
- Don’t U Know
- Dreams and Nightmares (Intro) (kinda angry cos Meek will never come London)
- Hola Hovito
- Money Ain’t a Thang
- Can I Get A…
- Allure (fuming at this point)
