The East Coast/West Coast feud has finally been laid to rest once and for all, as Jay Z has announced plans to reunite the two sides of our rap-battle-ravaged nation. Jay Z’s Made In America music festival, which has been based in Philadelphia for the past two years, will expand to include a second stage in Los Angeles this Labor Day. Ever the peacemaker and diplomat, the CEO of Rap intends to bring America together and heal our wounds, by uniting East and West coasts against their common enemy: the middle of the country, specifically those parts that host competing music festivals.
As part of his announcement of Made In America’s western expansion, Jay thanked his sponsors for “putting together a show that’s in the city, not some far-off place you can’t get to. No disrespect to any other festivals,” he added, having very directly disrespected the rural-Tennessee-based Bonnaroo, and the California desert’s Coachella. “No shots,” Jay said, having just taken a direct shot at both competing festivals.
Made In America will at least be diplomatic to its two host cities, as organizers stress that each stage will reflect the local population, with the L.A. wing of the festival geared more towards the city’s significant Hispanic population. The show will run simultaneously in both cities on Labor Day weekend. No word yet as to whether artists on both stages will duet via hologram like M.I.A. and Janelle Monáe did, but if there’s any credence to those rumors of a joint Jay Z-Beyoncé tour this summer, you can probably expect a duet of some sort.