With bandmate Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Roots rapper Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, created the Roots Picnic, a music and Black culture festival entering its fourth year at the Mann Center in 2024.
‘The Roots Picnic is a brand that was ... carefully built in the city of Philadelphia. And I think the city is fiercely protective of that.’
But there are plenty more attractions, from OutKast rapper André 3000 playing the flute from his left turn of an albumPhilly bandleader Adam Blackstone will back up Muni Long and Fantasia, R&B and jazz pianist Robert Glasper performs with Yebba, and rising acts such as OT7 Quanny, But that said, he hit me up the next day and was like, ‘Yo, I’ve never seen that many Black people together in the same place!’ He was blown away by that. And by how much of a family affair it is. The diversity of the bill. All of that contributes to why the Picnic is still here.
Part of The Roots’ brand is bringing together different elements, sometimes completely different worlds. We serve as connective tissue. And there’s a freedom there, to take a deep dive with Quest or James Poyser as music director and really celebrate the history and the music and culture there.Go-go bands from Washington, D.C., have become a big part of the Picnic. This year, you’ve got the Backyard Band, plus Scarface and Amerie, whose ‘There’s a lot of musicality there.
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