Philadelphia hip-hop heroes The Roots have announced the 2025 return of their annual hometown party — the Roots Picnic — which gathers together legacy artists, contemporary stars, and up-and-coming names for a two-day celebration of music and culture, hip-hop and beyond, in West Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park.
Taking place on Saturday, May 31st and Sunday, June 1st, the marquee names on the show feature a performance from soulquarian icon D’Angelo backed by The Roots themselves — drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson co-produced and contributed heavily to D’Angelo’s classic 2000 album Voodoo as well as his most recent work, 2014’s Black Messiah — as well as psychedelic-tinged rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Lenny Kravitz, poppy Southern rap star (and previous Roots Picnic artist) GloRilla; and Philadelphia’s own Meek Mill, who we last heard from on 2021’s Expensive Pain LP.
As always, The Roots make their lineup jam-packed, and this year will see smooth singer-songwriter Miguel in the mix, as well as legendary DJ and producer Kaytranada, trap star 2 Chainz, and hard-boiled MC Pusha T. It’s a year of album anniversaries as well, with Jeezy celebrating 20 years of his album Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101, Philly son Musiq Soulchild celebrating 25 years of his debut Aijuswanaseing, and The Roots themselves celebrating 30 years of their sophomore album (and major label debut) Do You Want More?!!!??!
Philly is also represented hard in this lineup: XPN favorite brass-soul-rock band SNACKTIME, the always-delightful bassist and bandleader Adam Blackstone, house music legend Crystal Waters, lyrics-forward rapper Kur, TikTok-fuled singer and MC Lay Banks, gospel singer Jermaine Dolly, and an array of DJs including Rich Medina, DJ Aktive, and DJ Diamond Kuts.
The festival promises more to be announced, as well, but check out the initial lineup below. The Roots Picnic goes on sale this Friday, February 21st, at 10 a.m., with various pre-sales happening throughout the week. Details at the WXPN Concert Calendar.