Nick Jonas Proves He’s Already A Star At Made In America 2015: See 10 Pics

Carl Williott | September 5, 2015 11:16 pm

Nick Jonas, like Justin Timberlake in the early 2000s, is a former boy band star making a concerted effort to be taken seriously as a pop singer and sex symbol. Like Timberlake, this initial calculated move is getting a healthy dose of side-eye and scoffs despite the guy’s sheer popularity. Like JT once did, Jonas is about to prove the skeptics wrong. He doesn’t have JT’s moves, but it was abundantly clear at his set on the first day of the Budweiser Made In America festival that he’s already a credible pop star.

On Saturday afternoon (September 5) he played to the first overflow crowd of the day, and it was definitely the loudest until the Meek Mill and Beyoncé sets. Accompanied by a live band, Jonas’ hits like “Chains,” “Levels,” “Teacher” and “Good Thing” were both limber and full-bodied, led by his falsetto and the attendees singing along. Quick covers of Bell Biv DeVoe‘s “Poison” and Outkast‘s “Roses” were nice curveballs that helped win over the fest’s older, more skeptical contingent (myself included). As he closed out with “Jealous,” I headed to the other side of the festival grounds, where hordes of ’90s babies were still belting out the song in unison with his distant, echoing voice.

Kanye says listen to the kids. Well, the kids were singing Nick Jonas songs on Saturday. And that’s probably why he earned a cigar session with Jay Z, which you can see along with nine photos from his set up top.