Huge crowds came to Philadelphia on June 1 and 2 for a joyous celebration starring some of hip-hop and R&B's biggest names
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 , outstanding collaborations, a couple of disappointing no-shows , 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.
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.
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 minutesher 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.
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” and “my fucking favorite rapper right there” . It was a moment of mutual pride and respect that felt like what the Roots Picnic is all about.
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