Christina Aguilera, Will Smith and the Roots unite in Philadelphia for America's 250th on July 4

One Philly: Unity Concert for America

Christina Aguilera, Will Smith and the Roots are set to perform together in Philadelphia on July 4 as part of a concert marking America's 250th anniversary. The event, titled One Philly: Unity Concert for America, is free and open to the public, according to Rolling Stone.

The choice of Philadelphia carries obvious symbolic weight. The city is where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and hosting a large-scale public concert there on the 250th anniversary is as on-the-nose as it gets. Whether that translates into a genuinely memorable night depends on the execution.

A lineup with range

Christina Aguilera, Will Smith and the Roots each bring a different chapter of American pop culture to the same stage. Aguilera is one of the defining pop voices of the last three decades. Smith, a Philadelphia native, has deep ties to the city and to the Roots, who have been his neighbors in the cultural geography of Philly since the early nineties. The Roots, now best known as the house band on The Tonight Show, remain one of the most consistently respected live acts in hip-hop.

A free outdoor show on the Fourth of July in Philly with this lineup is the kind of thing that fills a city. Whether the set list rises to the occasion is another question entirely.