The Roots’ Black Thought Talks Picnic, Upcoming Album and Kids’ Show
The Roots - Photo Credit: Getty Images

The Roots’ Black Thought Talks Picnic, Upcoming Album and Kids’ Show

A.D. Amorosi

No one could accuse The Roots or its principle co-founders and mouthpieces, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, of slacking.

Along with the full ensemble’s weeknightly performance as the live house band for Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show” on NBC, Trotter and Thompson started Passyunk Productions and are working on two children’s shows for Amazon Studios: one a live-action program, the other an animated kids’ show.

While Thompson busies himself with DJ gigs and authoring books such as 2015’s “Mo’ Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove,” Trotter recently got into the solo entrepreneurial act with the start of his “Black Thought Presents…. Delirious” stand-up comedy events — first at the Punch Line Comedy Club in his hometown of Philadelphia, with more to follow at other Punch Line locations nationally.

However, everything will stop — for a moment anyway — on June 3 as The Roots host and perform with guests such as Pharrell Williams, Solange and Lil Wayne during their 10th Annual Roots Picnic at Festival Pier on the Philly waterfront.

Since its start, the Roots Picnic has become a mini-festival event drawing audiences from around the globe, and a wide array of guest performers from the hip-hop/R&B realm (past guests have ranged from Snoop Dogg and Diplo to Usher and St. Vincent). “We usually have a greater diversity in terms of genre,” says Trotter of the Picnic’s usual slate of alternative acts. “This year is how God smiled on us.”

This article originally appeared on Variety

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