Black Thought & Plug 2 AKA Dove of De La Soul at Roots Picnic 2012
Philadelphia, PA- June 2 : (L-R) The ROOTS, De La Soul, Yasiin Bey perform at the 5th Annual ROOTS Picnic held at Festival Pier at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia, PA on June 2, 2012 in Phiidelphia, PA. The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are known for a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which includes live instrumentals. (Photo by Terrence Jennings/PictureGroup)

Photo: Roots Picnic 2012 Recap, Part 2!

Photos by Mel D. Cole courtesy of Village Slum

There goes Round 1. Ding! Here goes Round 2. Technically, Part 2 of our Roots Picnic 2012 photo recap, this time the black-and-white edition from ill photographeurMel D. Cole of Village Slum. Amongst those of us who were along for the ride, the word 'epic' was used to describe the weekend; a perfect storm (sometimes literally) of crowd-surfing energy, rap legends and forward-looking music of all kinds. Mel's lens goes a long way toward capturing that epic quality, a pleasure to look at whether you were there or not. To really recreate the experience, scroll through these beauties in rapid succession while DJ Low B's Official Roots Picnic mixtape in the background--instant desktop concert.

Danny Brown + Mr. MFN eXquire = Rock star sh*t.

Pon De Speakerbox (Diplo during Major Lazer's set on the main festival stage)

Diplo letting off during Major Lazer's Set.

Philly girls represent.

Who Cares, indeed.

Questlove & Yasiin connect backstage.

Plug 1 messing up minds with the Eye-patch.

De La Soul X The Roots.

Major dance moves (Major Lazer dancers on main festival stage).

Diplo backstage.

Rakim Allah touches the mic.

A rebel yell from Merrill Garbus during Tune-Yards' set on the main festival stage.

Goddamn those DJs made our year: J. Period, Jazzy Jeff & Maseo.

Danny Brown, Nikki Jean + some baked goods backstage.

OCD: Moosh & Twist.

Wale is the bomb, no lotus.

MC = Move the Crowd.

Major Lazer dancers go 'pon their headtop as Walshy Fire runs tings.

Three Kings: Dove, ?uestlove & Yasiin onstage during De La Soul's headlining set.

Chairman of The Booms: ?uestlove onstage.

Tuba Gooding, Jr.

Big R's Food Truck, backstage area (best jerk chicken this side of Miss Lily's)

Mr. MFN eXquire.

Stretch Armstrong.

Black Thought on Gryffindor.

Black Thought, Sadat X & Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian & Yasiin Bey.

Bass-god Mark Kelly demonstrates his funkface.

James Poyser & little dude.

Black Thought & Yasiin Bey compare swag backstage.

Mr. MFN eXquire enjoys the taste of grill.

Serious ting. Diplo & Jillionaire of Major Lazer handle riddim duties during Major Lazer's set.

De La Soul.

Wale.

Yasiin Bey.

The Legendary Roots Crew.

Plug 1 x Black Thought.

?uestlove & Malik B., outside Gryffindor.

Standing out in a crowd (ok, sitting).

Danny Brown.

Whole Dang Fam: James Poyser, Mark Kelly, Amanda Seales, Capn' Kirk & ?uestlove.

Freeway x Skillz.

Wit' One Arm He Spit! Freeway on the main stage during The Roots surprise jam session, Day 2.

Maseo, Yasiin & ?uesto.

Mel D. Cole, self-portrait with Amanda Seales.

One.

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