Roots Picnic: Erykah Badu, the Weeknd, A$AP Rocky Set for Philly Fest
UPDATE: Pandora has launched a mixtape with the Roots ahead of their annual Roots Picnic on May 30th. The mixtape features artists appearing at this year’s event, including Afrika Bambaataa, Erykah Badu and Phantogram.
The Roots have lined up the Weeknd, ASAP Rocky and a special set by Erykah Badu, for whom they’ll serve as backing band, to join them on May 30th for their annual Roots Picnic in Philadelphia. Other performers will include Phantogram, DJ Mustard, Hiatus Kaiyote, Rae Sremmurd, Afrika Bambaataa, Hudson Mohawke and DJ Windows 98 (the nom de scratch of Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler).
The group’s eighth annual festival, which takes place on the Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing in their hometown of Philadelphia, will feature three stages this year when they set up on the city’s festival pier to accommodate its 18 artists.
“The Picnic in Philly is always an event that we look forward to,” Shawn Gee, Roots manager and the executive producer of the Picnic, said in a statement. “It continues to get larger each year and the addition of the third stage and the increased size of the footprint will allow us to significantly increase the number of fans that get the chance to attend this year. The lineup is a diverse mix of great bands that will deliver a great musical experience to our hometown crowd.”
Tickets for the event go on sale March 13th.
In the meantime, the Roots will continue to let loose about a hundred miles away on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where they frequently participate in the host’s sketches. Recently, they appeared in a “We Are the Champions” sing-along for the show with Ariana Grande, Christina Aguilera, Sam Smith, Carrie Underwood and One Direction, among others. Over the holidays, they sang “Santa Clause Is Coming to Town” with One Direction.