The Roots Picnic 2025 lineup dropped with D’Angelo, Meek Mill and Lenny Kravitz set to headline
The annual music festival curated by The Roots released their lineup that features D’Angelo, Lenny Kravitz, Glorilla, and Tems, among others.
The Roots Picnic, the annual music festival curated by The Roots, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, recently released the lineup for this year’s festival. It features some heavy hitters regardless of what musical era or genre you call home.
The headliners for this year’s festival — which takes place at Philadelphia’s The Mann at Fairmount Park on the weekend of May 31 and June 1, 2025 — is set to be headlined by legendary musician (and sometimes recluse) D’Angelo, whose last full performance in front of fans was in 2016, making this appearance an almost must-go for some of D’Angelo’s most ardent fans. After all, D’Angelo will be backed up by The Roots, which is significant; Questlove was the co-producer for the making of D’Angelo’s landmark “Voodoo” album, long considered to be one of the greatest albums ever created in music.
Upon its release in 2000, numerous publications and bodies lauded “Voodoo” as the album of the year. Similarly, Questlove was an integral part of the creation of 2016’s “Black Messiah” album. Questlove, who has often shared his view of D’Angelo as a sort of spirit animal of his, is certain to make sure that the D’Angelo set is going to be one for the ages.
One of the main reasons to attend might be to see Meek Mill, who is also an announced headliner — in Philadelphia — as the crowd is sure to be as hyped and excited as ever to both hear and participate in what might end up being one of the most epic performances of Meek’s legacy single, “Dreams and Nightmares (Intro).” I’ve been to The Roots Picnic four times, and when DJs play “Dreams…” the crowd participates and is always as engaged as ever. That song being performed with Meek leading the 10,000-plus chorus, with cell phone lights in the sky, could end up being Meek’s version of Jimi Hendrix burning the guitar at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 or Whitney Houston’s “Star Spangled Banner” performance at the Super Bowl in 1991. I realize that statement sounds crazy, but there are few songs that elicit as much crowd participation and passion as “Dreams…” from people from Philadelphia, and it will be performed on stage in Philadelphia at a festival created for and by Philadelphia legends — a legendary performance is on the table.
Along with aforementioned D’Angelo and Meek Mill, other headliners include Lenny Kravitz, a musical mainstay since the late 1980s, afro beats star Tems, Latto, Miguel and fan-favorite Glo’Rilla whose litany of bass-thumping, trunk-rattling songs are primed to get the audience into full-fledged tizzy. After witnessing Sexyy Red’s set at The Roots Picnic in 2024, I have zero doubt that Glo’Rilla is going to have whatever stage she’s on rocking with enough energy to power the city for a few weeks.
Other notable acts set to perform at the festival include Jeezy, Adam Blackstone featuring Jagged Edge (which should be an interesting and amazing set), Musiq Soulchild celebrating the 25th anniversary of his “Aijuswannaseing” album, and The Roots celebrating 30 years of their sophomore album, “Do You Want More?!!!??!”
For the crowd coming up from Washington, D.C., The Roots Picnic returns with a now-common go-go set featuring legendary band Backyard Band featuring Cee-Lo Green. DJ Rich Medina is set to do a house music set. Along with the other legendary artists, like Funk Flex and Raheem DeVaughn, bubbling artists like Laila! and Jermaine Dolly, and event installations from Trap Karaoke! and the World Series of Spades are also slated to attend.
As always, The Roots Picnic, from its perch overlooking the city — a picture at the Roots Picnic sign overlooking the entire city is a must — is slated to include a litany of Black vendors and merchants and is always a vibe. Pre-sale tickets go on sale on February 18 at noon at the festival’s dedicated site, TheRootsPicnic.
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