“Made in America is a bigger idea than just a concert,” rapper Jay-Z explained on Jay-Z presents: Made in America, a documentary directed by Ron Howard that recorded the events at last year’s two-day Made in America festival in Philadelphia, which Jay-Z orchestrated.
The film was first shown in early September at the Toronto International Film Festival, but did not make its television premiere until Oct. 11 on Showtime.
Made in America not only shed light on the acts of the festival, but also told inspiring stories from the festival’s performers and highlighted Jay-Z’s own humble beginnings.
Jay-Z is often portrayed as the really rich, powerful and most influential music mogul of our generation. Some even go as far to say that he is the leader of the secret “Illuminati.” However, in the film, viewers get to hear about Jay-Z’s upbringings from the man himself.
In the movie, he tells the stories of his drug-dealing past, his constant writing and how he passed around his demo to every label but, didn’t get signed right off the bat. Even though he had many failures, as he pointed out in the film, the important thing is that they did not stop him from becoming who he is today.
“God has given every single person a genius level talent. You just have to find what it is that you are great at and tap into it,” Jay-Z said.
Many other artists featured in the festival, such as Pearl Jam, Odd Future, Rita Ora, Janelle Monae, Miike Snow, Gary Clark Jr., D’Angelo, Passion Pit, Santogold, Jill Scott and Run-D.M.C. also contributed their stories, some moving and some random to the film.
Singer Janelle Monae told a great story about how her mother was a custodian, her father was a garbage truck driver and she was a maid before becoming successful.
“I only wear black and white because my family wore uniforms every single day and it connects me with them… It reminds me of them,” Monae said.
Even though she is not a maid anymore and spends her time making music, she is still reminded of her past through her wardrobe.
The film also portrays the hopes and dreams of up and coming musicians around the Philadelphia-area who were given a slot in the festival and aspire to be the next Jay-Z. Not only were artists featured, but many of the festival workers told their own stories, including a single mother who owned a food truck.
As cheesy as it might sound, Made in America is a really great documentary which features some amazing stories, really drives home the obvious theme of “making it in America” and how music can connect everyone at any given time and spans all generations.