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Lil Wayne, André 3000, Nas, Jill Scott to Headline 2024 Roots Picnic

The June 1-2 event in Philadelphia will also include sets from Gunna, Victoria Monét, Method Man, Redman and Sexyy Red.

Lil Wayne at Shaq's Fun House 2024 held at XS at Wynn Las Vegas on Feb. 9, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Lil Wayne at Shaq's Fun House 2024 held at XS at Wynn Las Vegas on Feb. 9, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Christopher Polk for Billboard

Nas, Jill Scott and Lil Wayne will headline the 2024 Roots Picnic. The June 1-2 annual throw down in The Mann in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia will feature Weezy celebrating the music of his hometown of New Orleans with Trombone Shorty and PJ Morton, as well as other superstar collaborations, including the Roots’ Black Thought jamming with Method Man and Redman on a J. Period live mixtape, the Adam Blackstone legacy experience with Fantasia and Muni Long and the Go-Go Backyard Band with Scarface and Amerie.

Other acts slated to hit the stage include: Sexyy Red, Babyface, Wallo & Gillie, Wale, Robert Glasper and Yebba, Tyla, Cam’ron, Smino, Tasha Cobbs Leonard , Marsha Ambrosius, October London, Funk Flex, Leon Thomas, Kenya Vaun, Julian King, BLK Odyssy and André 3000 performing selections from his rap-free solo flute album New Blue Sun.


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This year’s event will also feature the Parkside Stage (previously known as the Podcast Stage) hosting curated experiential media, live podcasts and DJ sets from Million Dollaz Worth of Game, R&B Only & U+ME+RNB to Tonight’s Conversation, Juan Epstein Podcast, World Series of Spades and They Have the Range.

Tickets for this year’s event will go on presale beginning Tuesday (Feb. 20) at 10 a.m. ET here — with access code ALUMN124 — followed by a general onsale kicking off on Friday (Feb. 23) at 10 a.m. ET here.

Last year’s Picnic included sets from Usher & the Roots, Ms. Lauryn Hill — with a surprise Fugees reunion — as well as comedian Dave Chappelle, Lil Uzi Vert and more.

See the full lineup below.

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.

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SZA with the Grammys for Record of the Year and Best Melodic Rap Performance for “luther" at the 68th GRAMMY Awards held at the Crypto.com Arena on February 01, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
Michael Buckner/Billboard

SZA with the Grammys for Record of the Year and Best Melodic Rap Performance for “luther" at the 68th GRAMMY Awards held at the Crypto.com Arena on February 01, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.

Rb Hip Hop

SZA Feels Like She’s ‘At War Because of AI,’ Slams ‘Weird, Stereotypical Struggle Music’ Being Generated By Artificial Intelligence

The singer tackled the topic on "Ghost in the Machine" from her 2022 chart-topping "SOS" album.

SZA has been raging against what she dubbed the “Ghost in the Machine” on her Billboard 200 No. 1 album SOS for years. In her case the “ghost” she was referring to on that song from her 2022 breakthrough LP was artificial intelligence, which she took on by singing, “Let’s talk about AI, robot got more heart than I/ Robot got future, I don’t/ Robot got sleep but I don’t power down.”

Now, in an interview with i.d., the Grammy-winning singer is sharpening her knives to a high sheen in what she tagged as a potentially existential crisis for Black artists in the face of the rapidly expanding use of artificial intelligence in music.

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