Roots Picnic is back at the Mann this weekend and it’s bigger than ever

The Roots Picnic is back, bigger than ever.

How big? When the festival created by Philadelphia’s — and the world’s — most beloved hip-hop band debuted at the Festival Pier in 2008, “2,000 people showed up in a parking lot,” Roots manager Shawn Gee remembers.

Over the course of a decade on that Penn’s Landing blacktop, the Picnic quintupled in size. And when rapper Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and crew moved to the Mann Center in 2019, it exploded, drawing over 22,000 to the campus of the Fairmount Park venue.

This weekend, the festival will return after two virtual-only years. More than double in size, it’s now a two-day event with four stages spread throughout the expanded Mann campus.

The lineup is stacked. Headliners includes The Roots playing with Mary J. Blige, R&B singers Summer Walker and Jazmine Sullivan, jazz bandleader Kamasi Washington, and Nigerian pop star Wizkid.

There will be sets by gospel stars Kirk Franklin and Tye Tribbett, country vocalist Mickey Guyton, jazz pianist Robert Glasper with Bilal, and rappers Rick Ross, Rakim (with DJ Jazzy Jeff), Chief Keef, Freddie Gibbs, G Herbo, and Tierra Whack.

The first day of the fest — when The Roots and Blige’s set will close the show on Saturday night — will be livestreamed on YouTube.

“We’ll probably — knock on wood — have upwards of 60,000 tickets sold across the weekend,” says Gee, the founder of Live Nation Urban, the Los Angeles-based division of the concert promotion behemoth.

Gee puts on festivals around the country like H.E.R.’s Lights on Festival in California and Mary J. Blige’s Strength of a Woman, which debuted on Mother’s Day weekend in Atlanta.

All those fests have a shared focus: “Black culture from a Black perspective,” says Gee. The Roots Picnic is the model and originator, the shining star in the LN Urban constellation.

“This is the Philadelphia festival for Philadelphia by Philadelphia,” says Trotter, talking on the phone from his office at 30 Rockefeller Center before a taping of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week.

This year, it will be done with many nonmusical attractions. The Skyline Stage will be the Podcast Stage, programmed by Philly hip-hop personalities Wallo267 and Gillie Da King, with highlights including Questlove Supreme and Jemele Hill interviewing North Philly hoops legend Dawn Staley.

Short films chosen by the BlackStar Film Festival will be shown. Comedian Clint Coley hosts a spades tournament. The QuestLoves Food Cookout area is curated by Philly food YouTuber J.L. Jupiter.

Roots Picnic weekend will also include a series of events around Philadelphia.

On Thursday, Roberto Lugo’s The Talented Mr. Trotter mural will be unveiled outside the Clay Studio in South Kensington. On Friday, Black Thought, who has added standup to his portfolio, will host Delirious, a comedy showcase at Punch Line Philly in Fishtown.

Three after-parties are scheduled. Chill Vibes feat. Musiq Soulchild with DJ Aktive & DJ Diamond Kuts at Brooklyn Bowl and Kiss N Grind at the Fillmore are both Saturday.

And the Official Roots Picnic Jam Session Afterparty is at World Cafe Live on Sunday, with bassist Adam Blackstone and luminaries like George “Spanky” McCurdy, Freeway, and Bri Steves.

» READ MORE: Questlove on Black joy and bringing erased history back to life with ‘Summer of Soul’

The time off between in-person Picnics, Gee says, “gave us two years to think about how we were going to bring this brand back. Ahmir and Tariq and I spoke about how we wanted to curate this year. Coming out of George Floyd and everything we were coming out of as a culture, we wanted to build something that shows that Black culture isn’t a monolith. It’s a mosaic.”

Roots Picnic was conceived in 2008 by Gee along with Thompson, Trotter, and Richard Nichols, who managed the band from 1994 until his death in 2014, at first alone and then with Gee starting in 1999. Gee also cites the support of local Live Nation head Geoff Gordon from the fest’s inception.

Nichols was “a constantly creative, constantly intellectual force,” Gee says. His presence is still felt in all the band’s various doings.

» READ MORE: Black Thought on ‘Black No More’: Tariq Trotter of The Roots has a new Afrofuturist musical

That goes for Questlove’s Oscar-winning documentary Summer of Soul to Black No More, the Afrofuturist musical Trotter wrote songs for and starred in this year which he says is headed to Broadway in 2023, to the new A&E documentary series on James Brown that Thompson and Trotter are executive producing with Mick Jagger.

“Rich was always trying to put together a vehicle by which to elevate all Black music and culture to the level of high art,” says Trotter. “All the Roots Picnics that he was able to be with us for were all leading up to when we moved to the Mann. And this year, and the fact that it’s now two days? This is the realization of Rich’s master plan.”

The Roots Picnic has always been musically varied. In its first year, it hosted Gnarls Barkley, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Diplo, Deerhoof, and DJ Jazzy Jeff. “It’s always been about three things,” says Gee, “Creativity, collaboration, and discovery. And it’s always reflected the aesthetics and taste of The Roots.”

The Picnic has been shaped by the festival landscape in the Philadelphia over the past decade. “We were indie there for a while,” says Gee, pointing to years when rock bands like St. Vincent and The War on Drugs were regulars.

But with the Firefly Festival in Delaware scooping up indie acts and Jay-Z’s Made in America festival filling a more mainstream hip-hop niche — and attracting a younger, whiter audience from South Jersey and the Philadelphia suburbs — that opened up an opportunity, Gee says.

The void to fill is “super serving Black culture,” appealing to an adult fan base locked in to hip-hop and R&B and interested in food, film, and an array of lifestyle and wellness topics, Gee says. “We’re really doing a deep dive into that subculture, and over delivering to that core fan.”

“We’ve really been able to exercise some reach, and show some range, and demonstrate what the Roots Picnic has come to represent to folks in the city,” says Trotter.

He’s excited for the J.Period Live Mixtape, the showcase in which he will square off against Rick Ross and Benny the Butcher of the Buffalo rap collective Griselda. “It’s always good to sharpen my sword against someone else who is equally sharp. Steel sharpens steel.”

In past Picnics, the Roots have paired off with a formidable array of singers and rappers, including Usher, Erykah Badu, and Public Enemy, in tour de force finales. On Saturday night this year, it will be the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul.

“I’m super psyched for everyone that’s performing this year, but I’m not excited for anything more than I am to share the stage with Mary J. Blige.” says Trotter.

Contrasting performing in the battle rap showcase of the J.Period Mixtape with serving as Blige’s backup band, Trotter says: “It’s dope to be part of a festival where I’m able to explore both of those polar extremes. We’re going to interlace what we do with the energy that Mary J. always brings. You are going to hear her in a different way. I am ready for the good time that that is inevitably going to be.”

This year’s Picnic will also be a celebration of Trotter and Thompson’s 35 years together. The Roots began in 1987, when the friends were students at the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts in South Philly and played for tips on weekend at the intersection of Fifth and South Streets and Passyunk Avenue.

“Every year is an anniversary for us,” says Trotter. “For some album, or some milestone. I’m in awe of how life has taken its twists and turns and how through it all, The Roots have remained. And our need to get our art out has remained. I think that’s a beautiful thing.

“The fact that we’re still together is a testament to our brotherhood, the power of professionalism, and our work ethic. Whenever I think about whatever watershed moment we’re celebrating, I know I’m super grateful, and thankful for every blessing that we receive. And I know I speak for Quest when I say that.”

Roots Picnic at Mann Center, 5201 Parkside Ave., at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. $225 for a two-day pass. RootsPicnic.com.