Pandora Releases Digital Roots Picnic Mixtape

The Weeknd, Erykah Badu and A$AP Rocky will play at The Roots Picnic—and on this pre-party Pandora mixtape.

Courtesy of MTV.com

Courtesy of MTV.com

A local legend is upROOTing from an NBC stage and returning home to rock out for a day. For the eighth year in a row, Pandora will host The Roots Picnic. To coincide with the festival, Pandora has released a special Roots Picnic mixtape that provides a bit of a retrospective of the epic lineup. You can hear that here.

Festival anchors include The Weeknd, Phantogram, Erykah Badu (backed by The Roots), A$AP Rocky, Hiatus Kaiyote, and Afrika Bambaataa. The picnic offers an eclectic blend of musical vets and talented up-and-comers. A full lineup of the The Roots Picnic can be previewed here.

The Roots will preform 20 acts on not one but three stages. Each act will highlight the crew’s signature jazzy approach to hip-hop using live musical instruments.

The Philly-based band got its start 28 years ago and has evolved into an widely known American crowd pleaser.  The band was recently dubbed one of the greatest live bands around by Rolling Stone. Five-days a week (Monday-Friday) The Roots win over the hearts and ears of  fans of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

The 8th annual Roots Picnic will be held on Saturday, May 30th at Philadelphia’s Festival Pier. More info here. Hear the Roots Picnic Mixtape, here.