The Roots Picnic, held yearly in Philadelphia since 2008, is a special kind of music festival. The lineup this year covered a wide spectrum of hip-hop and R&B, plus country, go-go, and more, with the Roots’ own omnivorous musicality as the guiding force. Daily crowds of 30,000 made the pilgrimage to Fairmount Park to soak up the sun and sounds on June 1 and 2. There were surprise guests (Ghostface! Common! Freeway! Lloyd! Musiq Soulchild!), special collaborations, a couple of disappointing no-shows (Cam’Ron, you were missed), and tons more performances across three stages. It added up to a bountiful celebration of Black music and a joyful start to summer. Here are the best things we saw at the Roots Picnic 2024.
Brooklyn producer’s J. Period’s “Live Mixtape” set has become an annual highlight of the Roots Picnic, and this year was no exception, with appearances from Philly spitters like Black Thought, Freeway, and Amir Ali, as well as out-of-town guests Method Man, Redman, and Common. The live mixtape format is unpredictable in the best way, as J. Period simply plays a beat and lets whoever’s onstage go off. Such was the case with “4, 3, 2, 1,” which Method Man and Redman kicked off, before being joined by a quick cameo from Freeway, who surprised the crowd with some bars over the Nineties classic. Common then gave a rousing performance of “I Used To Love H.E.R.,” which had the all-ages crowd rejoicing in unison over their love of hip-hop.
Meth and Red felt like the anchors of the set, roving through their solo and group catalogs, and intermittently letting Black Thought interject and catch wreck. His freestyling ability is renowned for a reason — at certain junctures, Period or one of the other onstage artists simply shouted him out, and he knew it was his cue to go off. Thought expertly darted in between off-the-top freestyles and bars he’s previously spit in cyphers, adjusting his flow and cadence to the BPM of any given track. Toward the end of the set, A$AP Ferg came out and performed a couple songs (including an currently unreleased, Anita Baker-sampling track). He also gave Black Thought his flowers for helping put on the show, before Method Man and Redman closed with “Da Rockwilder.” —A.G.
The-Dream Remembers His Royal Years
Before The-Dream took the main stage on Saturday, a DJ played a few of the hits he’s written — “Umbrella,” “Countdown,” maybe you’ve heard of them? These days, he spends much more time behind the scenes than recording his own music; his credits are all over Beyoncé’s Renaissance, and he was nominated for a Songwriter of the Year award at last year’s Grammys. But about 15 years ago, at his first peak as a writer for others, The-Dream made a bid for solo stardom, and his 6 p.m. Roots Picnic set was all about remembering that moment. He hit the high notes in “Falsetto” and rode the groove of “Shawty Is Da Shit,” both from his 2007 debut, Love/Hate, with minimal staging and production, just raw vocals over a backbeat. Even better were the songs from his ambitious 2009 follow-up Love vs. Money, like the effusive pop of “Walkin’ on the Moon” and especially the multipart melodic suite “Fancy.” It was an understated performance, letting the songs speak for themselves and remind you of the time, not so very long ago, when he sounded like he just might be the next Prince. —S.V.L.
Sexyy Red Gets Political (and Puts on a Twerkathon)
Say what you want about Sexyy Red, there’s one phrase you have to give her: phenom. It speaks to her mass appeal that 20 minutes before her set, her packed crowd had the Roots Picnic looking like an HBCU homecoming show. Even though she’s from St. Louis, her music is true to the lineage of songs like “Knuck If You Buck,” which her DJ played while hyping the crowd up. One of the DJs was even going through the audience, hyping up the raucous attendees on a one-on-one basis.
Sexyy Red performed with a giant “Make America Sexy Again” cap behind her
Elianel Clinton for Rolling Stone
But eventually, it was time for Sexyy to take the stage. She’s a red-hot rapper right now, but her DJ told the amped-up crowd to “stand for the president.” From the giant, red “Make America Sexy Again” cap onstage to the faux Secret Service agent who walked her out, it’s clear that Sexyy is infusing the 2024 election into her marketing. After her roughly 40-minute set, it’s no question that she’s the people’s choice when it comes to turn-up music. Sexyy had been rapping for a while, but she broke out early last year with “Poundtown,” and has been dropping hit after hit since then, even through a pregnancy. Her performance demonstrated how impressive her catalog already is, from 2023 hits like “SkeeYee” and “Hellcats SRTs” to brand-new tracks like “U My Everything” and “Awesome Jawsome.” It was easy to tell how much fun she’s having onstage, taking choice moments during her song to twerk, which invigorated the mostly-woman crowd. —A.G.
Nas Takes It Back to ’94
“Philadelphia, it’s been a long time!” Nas said as he bounded out onto the main stage at 7:30 p.m. On the other side of the festival grounds, Sexyy Red was representing hip-hop’s present and future, but Nas was here to speak for its history. With flawless diction and no backing vocals, over beats provided by DJ Green Lantern and a live drummer, Nas kicked verses that old heads memorized ages ago, from “The Message,” “N.Y. State of Mind,” “Life’s a Bitch,” and “It Ain’t Hard To Tell.” Between songs, he repeatedly marveled at the fact that his monumental debut, Illmatic, came out 30 years ago. It’s wild but true — that album is as far in the past now as Meet the Beatles was back then. If Nineties hip-hop is basically classic rock now, Nas is a formidable guardian of that flame. Even the part of the set dedicated to his shamelessly ignorant commercial era (“You Owe Me,” “Oochie Wally”) had some nostalgic gravitas.
After bringing it back to earth with his verse from Raekwon’s “Verbal Intercourse,” Nas brought out a surprise guest — Ghostface Killah, who did his part on that song and kept it going with his own “Cherchez La Ghost.” The two stars exchanged compliments, calling each other “the greatest rapper of all time” (Ghost to Nas) and “my fucking favorite rapper right there” (Nas to Ghost). It was a moment of mutual pride and respect that felt like what the Roots Picnic is all about. —S.V.L.
Fantasia Takes Us to Church
Fantasia has the kind of voice that can stop you in your tracks — and if you were walking anywhere near the main stage around 5 p.m. on Sunday, that’s what happened when the Color Purple star came out to join the multitalented bassist and musical director Adam Blackstone’s set. Her powerhouse vocals soared over the rich, organic sound that Blackstone put together, with live organ, horns, and drums fueling the emotional climax of her 2004 single “Free Yourself.” The crowd cheered for her heartfelt, gospel-rooted, deeply moving performance, which continued with a cover of “Proud Mary” that was soft and slow-burning at first. Then the band kicked in, Fantasia channeled Tina Turner’s eternal soul, and the afternoon soared higher. —S.V.L.
Backyard and Scarface Bring the DMV to Philly
Scarface performs with D.C.’s own Backyard Band
Elianel Clinton for Rolling Stone
Washington, D.C.’s Backyard Band traveled up I-95 and brought the vibes with them on the festival’s second day. The five-person band gave a thrilling 45-minute set that gave Picnic attendees a taste of go-go, the Washington-centric genre dominated by percussion, anthemic choruses, and two-step-stoking grooves. The set started with Amerie, who sang two early-2000s era hits: “Why Don’t We Fall in Love” and “1 Thing.” There may have been many Picnic attendees who love her hits but were unaware of the go-go influence of those Rich Harrison-crafted singles; if so, they got a treatise on Sunday, with energetic percussion backing Amerie’s pleas for romance.
After Amerie’s twin opuses, the legendary Scarface took the stage to perform “My Block,” a single that felt that much more down-home buoyed by Backyard’s live instrumentation. He followed up with a rendition of his verses on “Smile,” his iconic collaboration with Tupac Shakur. Though the late MC wasn’t at the Picnic in the physical, his spirit lived on via Scarface’s story about Tupac pranking him back in the day. The Houston great ended the set with “Never Seen a Man Cry,” before leaving things to Backyard to go off for a prolonged set full of the singles that made them DMV legends, including remixes of Adele’s “Hello,” Kanye’s “Gold Digger,” and Nas’ “Oochie Wally,” as well as a slew of original singles such as “Pretty Girls” and “Fakin Like.” —A.G.
André 3000 Goes on a Cosmic Journey
All weekend long, people were talking about André 3000’s set. They wore vintage OutKast tees and newer ones for his instrumental solo album, New Blue Sun. “He’d better be rapping,” one Picnic attendee could be overheard telling a friend on Sunday afternoon. A few hours later, the man himself appeared at the center of a semicircle of tall, mirrored panels awash in red and gold light. This was the festival’s second stage, an amphitheater whose seated crowd stood up and cheered wildly at the first keening note from André’s digital flute. There were four backing musicians surrounding him — music director Carlos Niño, guitarist Nate Mercereau, keyboardist Surya Botofasina, and drummer Deantoni Parks — and they added atmospheric touches of percussion and gentle synth washes to André’s exploratory solos on flutes from China, Thailand, and ancient Maya sources. This was serene, mind-expanding music, closer to ambient legend Laraaji (who joined André at a recent concert in New York) than to any era of hip-hop. Later, André played a xylophone with mallets, turning the sound toward jazz.
One thing he didn’t do was rap. About 15 minutes into the set, André stepped to the mic and uttered a string of indecipherable sounds, then paused. “Philadelphia, I just want to let you know I made all that shit up,” he said mischievously. “It’s a new language, y’all…. We’re just pulling things out of the sky, harvesting them and throwing them back at y’all, live and direct. Everything we play tonight is made up on the spot.” The music he’s making now might feel a little perverse, if you’re looking for the lyricist who rewired your brain with “Elevators” or “Chonkyfire.” But maybe all those years of outside-the-box brilliance on the mic rewired his brain, too. And should we really want an artist beloved for racing forward to stand still? —S.V.L.
The Roots and Lil Wayne Close in Grand Fashion
Black Thought onstage during the Roots’ headlining set
Elianel Clinton for Rolling Stone
The Roots Picnic has grown into a Philly institution — and this year, it closed out with New Orleans flavor. The lights around the main stage shifted to purple, yellow, and green around 9 p.m. on Sunday night, and soon Questlove was leading the Roots and Trombone Shorty through the audience to the stage, with a full-on second line full of buoyant horns. The horns began playing the riff from P-Funk’s “Atomic Dog,” followed by the No Limit classic “Down For My Niggas” and then M.O.P.’s “Ante Up.” Black Thought delivered sharp verses from “Respond/React” over both of them, with the cascading keys from the Roots’ 1996 original replaced by a deep brass rumble. Moments later, Philadelphia favorite Freeway made his second appearance of the festival during the Roots’ “Clones,” and was followed by R&B stalwart Lloyd (a New Orleans native), who joined the Roots for a spirited rendition of their 2002 single “Break You Off” and then performed his own hits “You” and “Get It Shawty.”
It was fitting that before the man of the hour, the Roots entertained the crowd with a set that was full of the free-wheeling live instrumentation that made them music legends. After all, if it wasn’t for their extensive catalog, the Roots Picnic probably wouldn’t exist to this magnitude.
But after a 30-minute plus Roots set, it was time for Lil Wayne to take the stage. New Orleans’ biggest rap superstar shuffled through his decades-spanning catalog, going from hits like “Fireman” and “Hustler Muzik” to Carter III-era classics “Lollipop” and “Mrs. Officer.” For good measure, he brought things to the present tense with “Uproar.” By that point, the thousands left in the venue had all eyes on Wayne, and he delivered with an energetic medley of his iconic catalog — all backed by the Roots’ endlessly flexible grooves. —A.G.