Besides sharing the stage with Chappelle, Questlove and Black Thought will turn up on other stages. The former plays with Soulquarians, the all-star band backing Roy Ayers and the Isley Brothers, and co-host hisBlack Thought will perform and act as host of J. Period Live Mixtape, a yearly fest highlight, with Busta Rhymes and Eve.The Roots rapper spoke to The Inquirer about the Philly-centric Picnic, as well as his new album, which is due in November.
It’s something that you always take into consideration, the way any lineup will be received. But I feel like Philadelphia loves the Roots and Philadelphia loves Dave, and the Roots-Dave Chappelle experience is something completely different. It’s dope. In putting this festival together this year, we were definitely interested in maintaining its Philly-centricity. Maybe more so than ever. There are a lot of Philadelphia artists, hometown heroes, but in various stages of the game, various stages of their career. So we’ll be telling a different story than what we did with the Grammys and then what we intend to do later this summer with LL. [The band’s tour with LL Cool JThere are a lot of Philly people at the Picnic.