The Roots Picnic

The Roots Picnic Draws 60,000 Attendees for Historic Weekend

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The Roots Picnic Draws 60,000 Attendees for Historic Weekend

Over the past weekend, GRAMMY® Award-winning, multi-platinum hip-hop luminaries The Roots hosted and co-headlined the largest Roots Picnic to date at The Mann at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, PA. The festival, dubbed “hip-hop’s greatest festival” by Rolling Stone, attracted over 60,000 attendees across Saturday and Sunday, celebrating culture, art, music, and the city of brotherly love.

The sold-out festivities began on Friday, May 31st, with the 2nd Annual Roots Picnic Con at the Fillmore Philadelphia. The conference featured panel discussions powered by The Recording Academy, Cannabis Workers Union, Live Nation, and Phor Essentials, with panelists including Questlove and Marsha Ambrosius. That night, Black Thought returned with his standup comedy series “Black Thought Presents Delirious” at Punchline Philly, featuring surprise appearances from comedians nationwide.

Saturday’s events made history with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Mayor Cherelle Parker presenting The Roots with a proclamation recognizing their contributions to Philadelphia’s arts, arts education, and economy. Jill Scott, fresh off a 20th-anniversary tour for her debut album, closed out the evening with her greatest hits and debuted a new collaboration, “Norf Philly,” with Tierra Whack. Special guests like Common, Ghostface Killah, and Nas energized the crowd during their electrifying sets.

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On Sunday, The Roots curated a tribute to New Orleans, featuring PJ Morton, Trombone Shorty, and Lloyd, with Lil Wayne delivering a classic set. André 3000 performed an improvised set, and Gunna headlined with a marquee performance. Shaboozey, Babyface, Fantasia, Wale, Robert Glasper featuring Yebba, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, and more delivered stirring performances, making the Roots Picnic an unforgettable celebration of music and culture.

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The post The Roots Picnic Draws 60,000 Attendees for Historic Weekend first appeared on The Source.

The post The Roots Picnic Draws 60,000 Attendees for Historic Weekend appeared first on The Source.

The Roots Picnic Is Coming To Hollywood In 2024 With Common, Queen Latifah And More

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The Roots Picnic has been a staple of the band’s hometown, Philadelphia since 2008, bringing guests from across the spectrum of their collaborators and friends to Penn’s Landing. For those of us on the West Coast, though, the exciting festival has been a little difficult to attend. That all changes next year, when The Roots bring The Roots Picnic to LA, thanks to the Hollywood Bowl. Roots Picnic: Hip-Hop Is The Love Of My Life will take place on Saturday, June 29, along with special guests Arrested Development, Black Sheep, Common, Digable Planets, The Pharcyde, Queen Latifah, and more. Tickets for the event go on sale Thursday, December 14, at 10 AM PT at hollywoodbowl.com. The full Hollywood Bowl 2024 season will be announced in February 2024.

For the most part, The Roots have been busy as the house band of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (who helped keep their friendship tight), but individual members like Questlove and Black Thought have been busy with endeavors ranging from memoirs (see Uproxx’s interview with Black Thought about The Upcycled Self here) to planning the Grammys’ Hip-Hop 50 tribute (which he says caused him to lose some teeth). Quest is also set to direct Disney’s live-action remake of The Aristocats.

Fans Go Wild As Usher Walks Around The Roots Picnic

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Usher will take the stage at the annual The Roots Picnic at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia at 9:15pm Eastern Time on June 4. It’s his third big festival appearance of the year, following on from Dreamville and Lovers & Friends. The Roots have hosted the music festival every year, except 2020 and 2021, since 2008. However, Usher appears to building up to something big. His diamond-certified album Confessions turns 20 next year and he has promised “some incredible activations” to celebrate it. Furthermore, Usher has voiced his interest in headlining the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show and will perform in Europe later this year.

Usher has performed at the festival once before, in 2016. However, he is returning as one of the major headliners. Usher made headlines earlier this year while headlining the Lovers & Friends Festival. The night before the festival, Usher got into a physical altercation with Chris Brown. While Usher performed, he did so wearing sunglasses after he allegedly beat down by Brown’s entourage. Neither artist has publicly commented on what went down during Brown’s birthday party.

Crowd Goes Wild Upon Seeing Usher

Walking through the festival grounds at around midnight local time, fans were going wild as Usher moved through the crowd. “You’re watching history in the making!” Usher can be heard saying. Despite his set being nearly 24 hours away, he was absolutely adored by the crowd around him. Saturday night was closed out by Ms. Lauryn Hill. Other artists featured on the first day of the festival included Symba, GloRilla, and DJ Akademiks.

The Sunday lineup is absolutely stacked. On the Park Stage, Usher is preceded by the likes of City Girls and Ari Lennox. Elsewhere, acts like Saucy Santana and DJ Drama can be found on the Presser Stage. Finally, the Podcast Stage is being headlined by Charlamagne Tha God. We’ll have any news that comes out of the festival. Who are you excited about at the festival? Let us know in the comments Follow all the latest music news here at HotNewHipHop.

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Here Are The Roots Picnic Set Times For 2023

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Usher Lovers & Friends Music Festival 2023
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The Roots Picnic 2023 is going down this weekend. As one of Philadephia’s premiere outdoor music festivals, this year’s event is expected to attract fans nationwide. Despite the last-minute cancellation of Diddy as the closing headliner, R&B legend Usher being announced as the replacement quickly nulled over any lingering anger.

As for the music side of the festival, performances will go down on Saturday, June 3, and Sunday, June 4, at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts. Notable billed R&B acts include Coco Jones, DVSN, Soulquarians featuring the Isley Brothers, Syd, Ari Lennox, and Lucky Daye. To honor the 50th anniversary of hip-hop headliner Ms. Lauryn Hill and others such as the State Property Reunion will celebrate the genre’s impact.

Check out the set times for The Roots Picnic 2023 below. All times are p.m. and ET.

Saturday, June 3

Akin Inaj & Inutech — 2 @ Presser Stage
N3wyrkla — 2 @ Park Stage
Mike Phillips — 2:25 @ Park Stage
Fridayy — 2:30 @ Presser Stage
Uncle Waffles — 2:50 @ Park Stage
Symba — 3:10 @ Presser Stage
Adam Blackstone w/ Coco Jones & Mary Mary — 3:50 @ Park Stage
DVSN — 4 @ Presser Stage
State Property Reunion — 4:50 @ Park Stage
Baller Alert presents Rare Essence. vs. Backyard Band — 5 @ Presser Stage
Soulquarians feat. Isley Brothers — 6 @ Park Stage
GloRilla — 6:30 @ Presser Stage
Lil Uzi Vert — 7:30 @ Park Stage
Syd — 7:45 @ Presser Stage
Ms. Lauryn Hill — 9:15 @ Park Stage

Sunday, June 4

Dappa — 12 @ Presser Stage
Box Boys — 2 @ Park Stage
DJ Spinall — 2:15 @ Park Stage
Rocky — 2:30 @ Presser Stage
Little Brother — 3 @ Park Stage
Yussef Dayes Experience — 3:20 @ Presser Stage
Maverick City — 4 @ Park Stage
Saucy Santana — 4:20 @ Presser Stage
Kindred The Family Soul — 5:10 @ Presser Stage
Ari Lennox — 6 @ Park Stage
DJ Drama — 6:10 @ Presser Stage
J. Period Mixtape featuring Black Thought, Busta Rhymes, and Eve — 7:15 @ Park Stage
Lucky Daye — 7:25 @ Presser Stage
Usher — 9:15 @ Park Stage

Set times are subject to change—the official Roots Picnic mobile app to stay up-to-date with the latest information and updates to set times. Tickets for the Roots Picnic are on sale now. Find more information here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Mary J Blige And Summer Walker Headline The Roots Picnic’s Return To Philadelphia

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After two years, The Roots Picnic is finally returning to its in-person live format in 2022 — and that’s not all. The festival has been extended an extra day and will take place June 4-5 at The Mann at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. The eclectic festival lineup will be led by Mary J Blige, fresh off her Super Bowl halftime show performance and backed by The Roots; Summer Walker, whose 2021 album Still Over It topped the charts last year; and Nigerian singer Wizkid, who is undoubtedly this summer’s king of festivals.

Further down the flyer, the resurgent Jazmine Sullivan, jazz revivalist Kamasi Washington, and a pair of jam sessions — one led by J Period, with Black Thought, Benny The Butcher, and Rick Ross, the other featuring Keyshia Cole, SWV, and Musiq Soulchild — fill out the top-line acts. Other big draws include sax-rapper Masego, urban gospel OG Kirk Franklin, Chicago drill pioneer G Herbo, the quirky Tierra Whack, tough-guy rapper Freddie Gibbs, country star Mickey Guyton (who also sang the National Anthem at this year’s Super Bowl), Yebba, and Chief Keef.

There will also be a live podcast stage with Rory & Mal, Questlove Supreme, Jemele Hill, and more. Ticket presale began today at 10 am EST, while general sale starts Friday, February 18 at 10 am. You can get more information here.