Roots Picnic 2014: Black Thought of The Roots (photographed by Seher Sikandar)
In a new interview, Black Thought has shared a bevy of insights into what keeps The Roots Picnic vital after 8 years running. The Roots crew MC spoke recently sat down with Consequence of Sound, offering up a status report, so to speak, of the annual Philadelphia festival and its increasingly eclectic vibe. "It wasn’t something that worked right out the box," Thought said when asked about the variety of non-hip-hop acts on the 2015 bill. We do a lot of trial and error to figure it out and become more efficient and effective."
It's likely no surprise to read that The Roots Picnic serves as "the ultimate homecoming" for Black Thought, Questlove and the rest of the Roots family, who routinely rock Festival Pier in Philly, either in support of another hip-hop legend or as the entire evening's finale act themselves. "It has the potential to be on par with Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, and all these other festivals that have grown. We grew it from the ground up, and we always understood that it had potential," Thought told CoS.
Amidst the discussion, the MC also reminisced on working with (this year's headliner) Erykah Badu in the late '90s, and dropped a major bomb by confirming what has to be the worst-kept secret in hip-hop: The Roots are working on a brand new LP, a record that will become the group 14th official release. Suffice to say that the future holds great things for both The Roots and their annual festival. Lucky us--all we have to do is remain patient.
