Jay Z Added to ACL Fest
Late-breaking addition to the festival blueprint
By Kevin Curtin, 4:35PM, Thu. May 4, 2017
At 3pm, the ACL Fest app sent out a notification: “Now, can I get an encore? Do you want more?” It was an appropriate lyric for what was being hinted at, never mind it coming from a collaboration with Linkin Park. Jay Z will be headlining Zilker Park.
The Brooklyn hip-hop mogul slots into a lineup suffering from a lackluster top line that includes Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Killers. One of the genre’s all-time greats, Jay Z last appeared locally at South by Southwest 2014 via a joint performance with Kanye West reprising their Watch the Throne material. Before that, the Roc Nation CEO popped up at SXSW 2012 with a corporate-sponsored appearance at the Moody Theater. The last ticketed show Jay Z played in Austin came in 2009 with a sold-out performance at the Frank Erwin Center.
Over the last five years, ACL Fest’s representation of hip-hop has grown by leaps and bounds. Chicago’s Chance the Rapper co-headlines this event, running Oct. 6-8 and Oct. 13-15, and also stars Ice Cube, Run the Jewels, D.R.A.M., Danny Brown, A$AP Ferg and Skepta.
ACL Fest’s full lineup – minus Jay Z – was unveiled at 6am today. Tickets are on sale now.
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Kevin Curtin, May 4, 2017
