Last weekend, The Roots once again hosted their annual Roots Picnic in Philadelphia. And while a lucky audience was able to witness probably the last (surprise) concert of the Fugees ever, that wasn’t the only exceptional live moments that made the two-day festival stand out from the mass of ‘regular’ live events.
Not only was the concert an impressive reminder of how many legendary musicians Philadelphia has bred – it was also a cross-generational one: starting with State Property, the super group around Freeway, Beanie Siegel and the Young Guns, who reminded the crowd with Philly evergreens like “What We Do” what a significant role Philadelphia played in the popularity of Jay-Z’s Roc-a-Fella Records in the early 2000s – which is widely regarded as one of the New York labels.
Speaking of the Philly-NY connection, Eve, the first lady of the Ruff Ryders, also gave a rare performance at J. Period’s “Live Mixtape” set, where The Roots’s very own Black Thought traded verses with various guests to emulate the magic of mixtapes blending popular tracks with unheard material. And finally, the biggest (little) star from Philadelphia at the moment graced the stage: Lil Uzi Vert, who, along with City Girls, GloRilla, Ari Lennox and more, kept the flag flying for the New School.
While all of the above could theoretically happen at another festival too, one thing other festivals lack is The Roots. Their on-stage presence was the glue that held the shows together and made it the family event that ‘picnic’ promises: Be it the aforementioned Black Thought introducing guests, or Questlove and the Soulquarians, who backed the grandmaster Ron Isley as he sang his way through his seemingly endless catalog of soul classics – almost all known as samples from hip-hop classics, it felt – or as the backing band for repeat headliner Usher, who substituted for P. Diddy:
“When they called me and said Philly needs you out here, bro, I said ‘On one condition…y’all gotta rock with me.'”
Usher on The Roots
But the undisputed highlight of the weekend was another family reunion within the family event: Lauryn Hill celebrated the 25th anniversary of her critically-acclaimed solo album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” – in full length, with the same inimitable charisma and soul that has elevated her to one of hip hop’s biggest icons for almost three decades now. But it got even better when she closed her set mentioning that there also was another 25th anniversary for which she brought some friends:
Under the cheers from an ecstatic audience, Wyclef Jean and Pras joined Lauryn Hill on stage to play six classics from their years as The Fugees – including hits like “Killing Me Softly” and “Fu-Gee-La,” but also less predictable ones like the title track from their legendary “The Score” album, whose anniversary tour the three had to cancel last year due to Covid.
And yes, since the group’s breakup in 1997, there have been two short-lived mini-reunions of The Fugees before. But this one might very likely have been the last one ever, as Pras was recently found guilty for political conspiracy and faces up to 20 years in prison. So even Wyclef was forced to ask “Pras, you here?”, who answered with a heart-felt smile – while Lauryn Hill couldn’t stop to shout “These are my brrrothers!” We guess that’s the magic that only an annual picnic can do: Bring all of the family together again.
You can watch Lauryn Hill’s lauded “Roots Picnic” set in full here, including the Fugees reunion:
