The 2017 Budweiser Made in America Festival in Philadelphia concludes with a headlining performance from Jay-Z. It's one of the Brooklyn rapper's first major performances since releasing his 13th studio album 4:44 earlier this year. It precedes Jay's upcoming 4:44 tour, which kicks off October 27th. Tidal is live-streaming the performance. Tune in below.
Jay-Z recently sat down with Rap Radar to speak in-depth about his new album 4:44. "Before I started this album, I studied like not just hip hop, any genre. I studied Prince, I studied Michael," he said of the preparation for the project. "I really had to like think about what I wanted to say [on this album]. Think about what was the next thing, the next thing to I wanted to say. I didn't want to just make an album just to put out some music, I wanted it to be important. So it took me a minute to get to that point."
He also spoke of "Smile," in which he publicly reveals that his mother, Gloria Carter, is a lesbian. According to the rapper, the two had a conversation about the song prior to its release. "We just had a beautiful conversation and it led to me making the song, and I didn't have permission to make the song. And when she first heard then song, she was like, 'absolutely not,' and I was like, 'man, this is so important. So many people in the world hiding.'" He went on to call it "one of [his] proudest songs."
After being released exclusively on Tidal in its first week, 4:44 is now available to be streamed on Apple Music. It is still not available on Spotify, which experts have speculated is a protest of the streaming services free tier.
Hov's 4:44 tour kicks off in Anaheim next month. You can view the full list of dates below.
Oct. 27 – Anaheim, Calif. – Honda Center
Oct. 28 – Las Vegas, Nev. – T-Mobile Arena
Nov. 1 – Fresno, Calif. – Save Mart Center at Fresno State
Nov. 3 – Phoenix, Ariz. – Talking Stick Resort Arena
Nov. 5 – Denver, Colo. – Pepsi Center Arena
Nov. 7 – Dallas, Texas – American Airlines Center
Nov. 8 – Houston, Texas – Toyota Center
Nov. 9 – New Orleans, La. – Smoothie King Center
Nov. 11 – Orlando, Fla. – Amway Center
Nov. 12 – Miami, Fla. – American Airlines Arena
Nov. 14 – Atlanta, Ga. – Philips Arena
Nov. 15 – Nashville, Tenn. – Bridgestone Arena
Nov. 16 – Charlotte, N.C. – Spectrum Center
Nov. 18 – Detroit, Mich. – Little Caesars Arena
Nov. 19 – Cleveland, Ohio – Quicken Loans Arena
Nov. 21 – Montreal, Quebec – Bell Centre
Nov. 22 – Toronto, Ontario – Air Canada Centre
Nov. 25 – Boston, Mass. – TD Garden
Nov. 26 – Brooklyn, N.Y. – Barclays Center
Nov. 29 – Washington, D.C. – Verizon Center
Dec. 2 – Uniondale, N.Y. – Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Dec. 5 – Chicago, Ill. – United Center
Dec. 6 – Lincoln, Nebr. – Pinnacle Bank Arena
Dec. 9 – Edmonton, Alberta – Rogers Place
Dec. 11 – Vancouver, British Columbia – Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena
Dec. 13 – Seattle, Wash. – KeyArena
Dec. 14 – Portland, Ore. – Moda Center
Dec.16 – Oakland, Calif. – Oracle Arena
Dec. 17 – Sacramento, Calif. – Golden 1 Center
Dec. 19 – San Diego, Calif. – Viejas Arena
Dec. 21 – Los Angeles, Calif. – The Forum