The Roots Picnic Returns To Philadelphia With Headlining Sets By Diddy, Lauryn Hill, And Lil Uzi Vert

The Roots Picnic will return to the Mann Center on June 3 and 4, with headlining sets by Diddy with the Roots, Ms. Lauryn Hill performing her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and Philadelphia rapper Lil Uzi Vert.

This year’s Picnic begins on Friday, June 2, with a comedy show and concert featuring Dave Chappelle and the Roots at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia.

The two-day festival will then begin Saturday on multiple stages on the Mann’s campus in Fairmount Park. There will be separate ticketing and admission for the Wells Fargo and Mann Center events.

The Roots’ and Live Nation Urban’s hip-hop and R&B festival includes a podcast stage with Charlamagne Tha God, DJ Academiks, Questlove Supreme, Don’t Call Me White Girl, and People’s Party with Talib Kweli.

Aside from the headliners, Soulquarians, the all-star band led by Roots drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and featuring guests Roy Ayers and the Isley Brothers, will perform at the Picnic.

This year’s Black Thought Live Mixtape will feature Roots rapper Tariq Trotter, Philadelphia rapper Eve, and Busta Rhymes, who stole the show at the Grammys 50th anniversary of hip-hop tribute orchestrated by Questlove and the Roots.

Ari Lennox, Lucky Daye, and DVSN are among the other featured artists. The Picnic will feature a reunion of Philly hip-hop crew State Property with Beanie Sigel, Freeway, Young Guns, Moschino, and Peedi Crakk. Then there’ll be Grammy-winning gospel group Maverick City, Miami rap duo City Girls, and rising Memphis rhymer Glorilla.

Syd, an alt-R&B vocalist and songwriter, will perform, as will Philly bassist and bandleader Adam Blackstone, with guests Coco Jones and Mary Mary. A Go Go showcase featuring Backyard Band and Rare Essence. Fridayy, DJ Drama, and Kindred the Family Soul are also on the bill.

The Roots fan club presale for both the Chappelle show and the Picnic at the Mann will begin at noon on February 21 at therootspicnic.com, with general public tickets available at the same site at 10 a.m. on February 22.

The Roots Picnic was founded in 2007 and was based on Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing until 2018. It more than doubled in size when it moved to the Mann in 2019. After two years as a virtual-only event due to COVID-19, it returned as a two-day event last year, attracting nearly 30,000 people per day.

The Roots have a long history with Chappelle, who was heavily chastised for jokes he made during a 2021 Netflix special that many saw as transphobic. The band was the backing band for Michel Gondry’s 2005 film Chappelle’s Block Party, and the comedian was supposed to headline the Picnic in 2018 but never got to perform because the festival was cut short due to weather.

Hill is commemorating the 25th anniversary of her classic 1998 solo debut album, which, along with OutKast’s Speakerboxxx / The Love Below, remains the only hip-hop album to win an album of the year Grammy. The Roots’ performance with Diddy will be similar to the band’s previous career highlights with artists such as Mary J. Blige and Pharrell Williams.

The Picnic announcement is a significant weekend addition to a Mann Center summer calendar that is rapidly filling up. Notable performances include Charlie Puth on June 13, James Taylor on July 1, Kane Brown on July 8, Noel Gallagher & Garbage on July 14, Amos Lee on July 20, Phish on July 25 and 26, Mt. Joy on August 12 and 13, and the Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie on September 21.

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