It was 16 years ago that Philadelphia hip-hop legends The Roots kicked off their inaugural Roots Picnic in their hometown. Now, the crew has expanded their reach to the West Coast with the inaugural Roots Picnic: Hip-Hop is the Love of My Life. Held at the iconic Hollywood Bowl, artists like Common, Arrested Development, Digable Planets, The Pharcyde, Black Sheep, Jungle Brothers and the legendary Queen Latifah joined in on the fun.
As the show marquee expresses, this show was a love letter to not just hip-hop, but the funk, disco, soul and R&B sounds that shaped the now-ubiquitous genre. All of the artists on the bill collaborated to bring a modern take on some of the biggest hits of the last few decades.
Unlike a traditional festival or even a showcase at the Bowl like Brainfeeder held in 2016, the wasn’t a procession of one artist after another. Instead, it was a free-for-all, a true party in every sense, celebrating what hip-hop meant to these celebrated, influential rap icons. While every artist performed the hits, there were plenty of covers of the classics, fitting the “history of hip-hop” theme.
The concert was headlined by The Roots, though they would mostly take a back seat to the many iconic performers that would take the mic throughout the night. The band, led by drummer Questlove, remained on stage throughout the entire night providing live instrumental beats for the MCs.
Then, each group on the bill would take the stage for a song, or sometimes a couple songs in a row. The Roots’ main MC Black Thought remained on stage throughout the show as well. When he wasn’t leading songs by The Roots, he was hyping the other artists and emphasizing lines in their performances. Just a few songs into the show he exclaimed, “This is a family affair. A family reunion!”
It certainly felt that way from the crowd, seeing all of the performers hanging out in a separate area to the left of the stage. When it was time to perform, an artist would stroll out from the congregation and hit center stage.
The Roots took the stage first, opening the show with “Respond/React.” With a three-piece horn ensemble, their sound was big. Instead of a tuba which would likely relegate the performer to a chair, the sousaphone allowed the player — appropriately named Tuba Gooding Jr. — to bounce around the stage along with guitarist Captain Kirk Douglas and bassist Mark Kelley. David Guy and Ian Hendrickson-Smith rounded out the roots crew,
Digable Planets took the stage next to perform “9th Wonder (Blackitolism),” from their second album. We saw Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler’s current group Shabazz Palaces at the Bowl at the aforementioned Brainfeeder show, but it was a treat to see him perform with Craig “Doodlebug” Irving and Mariana “Ladybug Mecca” Vieira. They would make several additional appearances throughout the night.
The next artist to perform with The Roots was Chicago’s Common. He would be a strong presence throughout the concert, jumping in on backing vocals throughout the performances. He got his night started with “I Used to Love H.E.R.” He would later perform a pair of his best songs with “Go!” and an abbreviated version of “The Corner,” both from his legendary album BE.
Black Sheep performed “Flavor of the Week” and Jungle Brothers got people on their feet with their best-known song “Straight Out The Jungle.” The Pharcyde got a big reaction when they took the stage for the first time, performing “Drop” and “Runnin’. The first homage to the roots of hip-hop came with a quick cover of Donald Byrne’s “Think Twice.” This lounge-y pop song blends disco, funk and soul in such a way that it became a perfect fit for sampling in hip-hop. The Roots followed that up with a cover of “Looking at the Front Door” by Main Source.
There’s no doubt Arrested Development had one of the biggest crowd responses of the night. Certainly not the most commercially successful, the group got everyone on their feet for performances of “Ease My Mind,” “People Everyday,” “Mr. Wendal,” and their early hit, “Tennessee.” After a short intermission, Common performed what is basically the theme song of the night, “Act Too (Love of My Life)” and an EPMD cover, “So What Cha Sayin.” This was all just building up to the obvious climax of the show, which was alluded to with a plush, posh throne set center stage.
Queen Latifah finally made her appearance and wow, it was impressive. She’s been performing fairly regularly lately, but to see it first hand was a treat. While lately she’s been able to gain considerable fame as an actress and media personality, she’s still at the top of the game when it comes to performance. Her set wasn’t scattered throughout the night like other performers. Instead, she played a handful of songs straight through at the middle of the bill. Songs included “Latifah’s Had It Up 2 Here,” “Wrath of My Madness,” “Just Another Day,” “Ladies First” and “U.N.I.T.Y.”
While Queen Latifah didn’t leave the stage, there were some guests who joined her to perform their own songs. Lady of Rage performed her Snoop Dogg featuring banger “Afro Puffs,” Yo-Yo did “You Can’t Play With My Yo-Yo” and MC Lyte gave us “Paper Thin.” And to round it all out, there was a Brandy cover of “I Wanna Be Down,” a song that features Queen Latifah.
At this point there were only a few more songs left, with Jungle Brothers assisting on a cover of De La Soul’s “Buddy” and then their own “We Are the JBs.” Common headlined one last time with “The Light,” from his breakthrough album Like Water for Chocolate, but before that he played a new song with East Coast legend Pete Rock. Digable Planets played their biggest single “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like That),” getting everyone up out of their seats to close out the night. Black Sheep had the honor of closing out the night with an uplifting performance of “The Choice Is Yours.”
Let’s hope that Black Thought is correct in his declaration that this is the inaugural version of an annual tradition at the Bowl. Hip-hop can use more representation at the Hollywood Bowl and what better way to celebrate it than with The Roots?
Setlist
1. Respond/React – The Roots
2. 9th Wonder (Blackitolism) – Digable Planets
3. I Used to Love H.E.R. – Common
4. Flavor of the Month – Black Sheep
5. Straight Out The Jungle – Jungle Brothers
6. Drop – The Pharcyde
7. Runnin’ – The Pharcyde
8. Go! – Common
9. The Corner – Common
10. Think Twice (Donald Byrde cover) – The Roots
11. Lookin’ at the Front Door (Main Source cover) – The Roots
12. Ease My Mind – Arrested Development
13. People Everyday – Arrested Development
14. Passin’ Me By – The Pharcyde
15. Otha Fish – The Pharcyde
16. Pacifics – Digable Planets
17. Mr. Wendal – Arrested Development
18. You Got Me – The Roots
19. Act Too (Love of My Life) – Common
20. So What Cha Saying – Common
21. Latifah’s Had It Up 2 Here – Queen Latifah
22. Wrath of My Madness – Queen Latifah
23. Just Another Day – Queen Latifah
24. Afro Puffs – The Lady of Rage
25. Ladies First – Queen Latifah and Monie Love
26. Monie in the Middle – Monie Love
27. I Wanna Be Down – Queen Latifah
28. You Can’t Play With My Yo-Yo – Yo-Yo
29. Paper Thin – MC Lyte
30. U.N.I.T.Y. – Queen Latifah
31. Buddy (De La Soul Cover) – Jungle Brothers
32. We Are The JB’s – Jungle Brothers
33. Unknown Song – Pete Rock and Common
34. The Light – Common
35. Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) – Digable Planets
36. Tennessee – Arrested Development
37. The Choice Is Yours – Black Sheep
File photo by Raymond Flotat
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