The Roots Picnic has become one of the East Coast’s premiere festivals over the last ten years, featuring a diverse list of headliners and genres, all backed by the legendary Philadelphia band. The tradition continues for the 2018 season, with a lineup featuring not only friend of the band, comedian Dave Chappelle but also Philly punk-rap phenomenon Lil Uzi Vert.
The festival, held annually at Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing in the band’s hometown since 2008, will also feature sets from prominent newcomers like 6lack and DVSN, indie rockers Dirty Projectors, and rap icons The Diplomats. Brandy and 2 Chainz are also set to fill out the diverse roster, along with recent Grammy nominee Rapsody, “Crew” rapper Goldlink, experimental freeform band Badbadnotgood, and pioneering DJ Kid Capri.
Meanwhile, The Roots’ frontman and primary MC, Black Thought, will again host his live mixtape alongside producer/DJ J. Period, along with a host of guests including Jadakiss and Fabolous, fresh off their Freddy Vs. Jason mixtape.
Multiple stages will provide music and other entertainment, including Madden and NBA 2K video game tournaments, discussion panels, and a podcast stage. The Roots’ spokesmen, Black Thought and drummer Questlove issued a joint statement describing the challenges of curating this event annually, saying, “It’s always a challenge every year to curate the lineup for the Picnic. We are especially excited this year to bring the jam session hosted by our good friend Dave Chappelle to Philly this year. We have done jam sessions with Dave many times over the past decade, most recently at Radio City Music Hall, but never in the festival environment. We love that we are able to bring this great experience to our hometown of Philly.”
Check out the full lineup below.
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