Philadelphia hip-hop stalwarts the Roots are bringing the group’s famed Roots Picnic festival to Los Angeles for the first time this summer. Taking place at the Hollywood Bowl on June 29, 2024, the inaugural event, dubbed “Roots Picnic: Hip-Hop Is the Love of My Life” will feature the Roots, Queen Latifah and Common as headliners.
Initially held in 2008, the Roots Picnic has brought together eclectic lineups of hip-hop, R&B, jazz and rock acts over the years, with Nas, SZA, De La Soul, TV on the Radio, Vampire Weekend, Erykah Badu and Snoop Dogg among the previous headliners. (Always alongside the Roots themselves, of course.) Though always held in Philadelphia, the Picnic has previously staged satellite dates in New York, featuring D’Angelo and David Byrne as headliners.
Common and Queen Latifah share top billing with the Roots at L.A.'s inaugural Roots Picnic.
Last year’s Picnic featured headlining sets from Usher and the Isley Brothers, as well as a surprise reunion of the Fugees. Other acts set for the L.A. date include the Pharcyde, Digable Planets, Arrested Development and Black Sheep, with more promised to be announced later.
“The first time we played Hollywood Bowl was way back in 2011, and there was nothing like it,” said Roots’ drummer Questlove in a statement. “We came back to headline in 2019, and we’ve been talking about doing something there since. This idea for ‘Hip-Hop Is the Love of My Life’ came up, and we knew there was no better spot.” (The festival's subtitle is a reference to the Roots' 1999 track "Act Too (Love of My Life)."
Roots drummer Questlove (second from left) won an Oscar for his directorial debut, 'Summer of Soul.'
One of Philadelphia’s greatest musical exports of the last quarter century, the Roots earned a reputation as a tirelessly touring, top-shelf live band in between critically acclaimed albums like Illadelph Halflife and Things Fall Apart. The group were introduced to a wider audience when they became the house band for The Late Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2014.
The Roots’ two most visible members have since notched significant successes on their own. MC Black Thought released the acclaimed album Cheat Codes in collaboration with Danger Mouse last year, while Questlove won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2022 for his directorial debut, Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). He’s scheduled to direct a documentary about late producer J Dilla, as well as remake of Disney’s The Aristocats, in the coming years.
