Lauryn Hill and Nas Add Dave Chappelle and Nick Grant to ‘PowerNomics Tour’ Dates
Back in late May, Lauryn Hill and Nas announced that they'd be embarking on a joint North American tour. Now billed the PowerNomics Tour, the two stars have announced that Dave Chappelle and Nick Grant have been added to dates as well.
The tour aims to enfranchise the black community, and a portion of the ticket sales will be given to organizations promoting education, health, agriculture, technology, and community-based businesses in the Black community, including The Harvest Institute, Yes We Code, Equal Justice Initiative, Soronko Academy, NAS’ INITIATIVE, Al Noor Charitable Agency, Habesha, International Peace Initiative and more. The concept for the tour comes from Dr. Claud Anderson’s book of the same name.
"PowerNomics Tour is our way of being a part of the solution," Nas said in a statement. "We are here to lend a hand where it is needed and hopefully to inspire. I’m a part of a mission to help build a more diverse tech industry and to encourage my people to see beyond what they believe is in their reach. Music is spiritual, and we are a musical people, so what better way to contribute to our situation than to bring some spirituality. It is an honor to be on this tour with MLH, and what better time than now, in the midst of the devastation of Hurricane Harvey as well as the dire situation of many African American communities.”
Last year, Lauryn Hill embarked on her MLH Caravan: A Diaspora Calling, which featured Nas on a few dates and was focused on building a "theme of unity and celebration of the many facets of cultural and artistic beauty." She hopes to accomplish something similar with this new tour.
"My interests have always centered around encouraging empowerment, and focusing on ways to help heal, repair, educate and promote enfranchisement to the disenfranchised,” Hill says of her goals for the PowerNomics tour. “I’m excited to share this platform for community, creativity, and progress, helping to expose, educate, and magnify the beauty of cultural amalgamation.”
You can check out the updated tour schedule below:
9/7/17 — Chicago, IL — Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island ^
9/8/17 — Sterling Heights, MI — Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill ^
9/10/17 — Toronto, ON — Budweiser Stage ^
9/12/17 — Boston, MA — Blue Hills Bank Pavilion ^
9/14/17 — Camden, NJ — BB&T Pavilion *
9/15/17 — Bristow, VA — Jiffy Lube Live *
9/20/17 — Raleigh, NC — Red Hat Amphitheater ^
9/22/17 — Miami, FL — Bayfront Park Amphitheate r*
9/23/17 — Jacksonville, FL — Daily’s Place ^
9/27/17 — Houston, TX — Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land ^
9/28/17 —Dallas, TX — The Pavilion at Irving Music Factory *
9/30/17 — Austin, TX — Austin360 Amphitheater ^
10/3/17 — San Diego, CA — Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at SDSU *
10/5/17 — Los Angeles, CA — Hollywood Bowl ^
10/7/17 — Mountain View, CA — Shoreline Amphitheatre *
10/10/17 — Seattle, WA — WaMu Theater *
10/11/17 — Vancouver, BC — Pacific Coliseum ^
^with Chronixx
*with Hannibal Buress and Chronixx