By CHUCK DARROW
Courier-Post Staff
PHILADELPHIA
Hip-hop superstars Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Will Smith and P. Diddy, Jersey rockers Bon Jovi, "jam-band" stalwarts the Dave Matthews Band and R&B legend Stevie Wonder are among the artists who will perform on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway July 2 as the city hosts the North American portion of the international Live 8 musical extravaganza.

The free concert in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art is one of five taking place that day on behalf of African debt relief. Others are set for London, Rome, Berlin and Paris.

Speaking via satellite from a London news conference, Live 8 creator, singer-songwriter Bob Geldof, emphasized the concerts are not simply a sequel to the July 1985 Live Aid shows in London and at the old JFK Stadium in South Philadelphia.

Those two daylong events were fundraisers for Ethiopian famine relief. This time, said Geldof, who spearheaded Live Aid, "We don't want people's money. We want them."

He said he hopes the size and scope of the July 2 undertaking will motivate world leaders at the annual G8 summit in Perthshire, Scotland, from July 5 through 8 to agree to forgive debts owed by African nations to Western countries. The G8 nations are the United States, England, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, Italy and Russia.

Delineating the problems African nations face from their debt burdens - from the worsening AIDS epidemic to thousands of children dying daily from the lack of basic health care - Geldof said he hopes Live 8 would "tilt the world a little bit on its axis in favor of the poor."

He said the Live 8 campaign has three goals: 100 percent cancellation of what he called unpayable debts, the doubling of international aid to African nations to $50 billion a year, and "trade justice" that will allow the continent's countries to support themselves via the global marketplace.

Among those at Philadelphia City Hall Tuesday was South African native Matthews, who has two sold-out shows scheduled for Camden's Tweeter Center on July 5 and 6. He, too, said he believes Live 8 can make a difference by persuading President Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other G8 participants to cancel the debts.

"To get everyone aware and in one voice calling out to this small handful of people . . . and saying, `I want your signature now' can change the future for millions and millions and millions and millions of people."

U2's lead singer, Bono, a longtime proponent of African debt relief whose band is set for the London show, said Live 8 "is going to be a defining moment for our generation."

Geldof said he'd resisted the concept of a Live Aid sequel up until about four weeks ago, when he began pondering "what we could do that was different. It seemed to me we could gather again, not for charity, but for political justice."

News reports throughout the past week had suggested other U.S. cities, including New York and Washington, D.C., were being considered for the North American site. But Live 8 Executive Producer Kevin Wall told reporters at City Hall that Philadelphia was always the organizers' first choice, primarily because of its role as a host city of Live Aid, and because of the experience and expertise of local concert promoter Larry Magid of Electric Factory Concerts, who co-promoted Live Aid.

Philadelphia Mayor John Street said Live 8 will draw a million people to the parkway. He said his city will be more than up to the challenge of accommodating such a massive crowd right in the middle of the annual, weeklong Sunoco Welcome America festivities that this year culminate with a July Fourth parkway concert by Sir Elton John, who is also listed for the London Live 8 show.

"We are very, very effective at this," said Street. "I think we do it better than virtually any other city in the country."