JAY-Z Fumes In Open Letter After Philadelphia Cancels "Made In America" Concert

For the last six years, JAY-Z has held his Made In America concert at Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.

It will play there again this Labor Day, but no more after that. 

Roc Nation officials say they only learned about the city's decision to cancel the concert after 2018 when they read an article about the move on Billy Penn yesterday.

Here's what the website wrote about the city's reasoning for ending MIA at its current location.

The city’s official view on MIA, as relayed via email, is that when it first started in 2012, the fest provided a welcome boost on an otherwise slow weekend. But six years later, tourism has grown, so “the need for an event of this scale at this location may no longer be necessary.”

The city says it spent $1.1 million in services, including police overtime, EMS coverage, cleanup and general Parks & Rec support, to hold the 2017 MIA. Roc covered $600,000 of that. Roughly 140,000 people attended the event last year.

Roc Nation has vowed to find another location near Philadelphia for the 2019 show and beyond, and JAY-Z fumed at Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney's decision to evict in an open letter published on Philly.com.

Jay-Z has published a strong statement to @phillymayor Jim Kenney after after the mayor’s office announced the Made in America Tour will be held on the Parkway for the last time this year. . The festival, held on Labor Day weekend, has taken place on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway since 2012. It’s attracted numerous big-name artists like Rihanna, Beyoncé, Jay-Z and Pearl Jam. . This year’s festival will be headlined by Nicki Minaj, Meek Mill, Post Malone and Diplo in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Arts on Sept. 1 and 2. . Read the rest of Jay-Z’s response to Mayor Kenney at philly.com. . 📸 @photoswanson, Yong Kim, Michael Wirtz . . #jayz #madeinamerica #philly #philadelphia #rihanna #beyonce #rap #rapper #concert #festival #meekmill #MIA #madeinamericafestival

A post shared by  Philly.com (@phillydotcom) on Jul 18, 2018 at 9:35am PDT

“We are disappointed that the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia would evict us from the heart of the city, through a media outlet, without a sit-down meeting, notice, dialogue or proper communication. It signifies zero appreciation for what Made In America has built alongside the phenomenal citizens of this city," Jay wrote.

"Since 2012, Made In America, one of the only minority-owned festivals, has had a positive $102.8 million economic impact to Philadelphia and the festival has paid $3.4 million in rent to the City."

Update: After the letter, the city Philadelphia classified the situation as an "unfortunate misunderstanding" and vowed to keep the dialogue open.

“The City of Philadelphia supports the Made in America festival and is greatly appreciative of all that it has done for Philadelphia. We are committed to its continued success and thank them for their partnership. We hope to be able to resolve what has been an unfortunate misunderstanding. We are working with Roc Nation and Live Nation to resolve this issue and we are committed to continuing our partnership with the Made in America festival.”