Erykah Badu will join Jaÿ-Z as a headliner at the Roots Picnic
Kehlani, Brandy, De La Soul, T.I., DJ Jazzy Jeff, Jermaine Dupri, Adam Blackstone, and Corinne Bailey Rae are also on the bill for the Picnic at Belmont Plateau
Eryka Badu will be the closing night headliner at the 2026 Roots Picnic.
Badu joins Jaÿ-Z as top of the bill acts at this year’s Picnic, the 20th version of the weekend long festival, which is making the moving from the Mann Center to nearby on Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park.
Also on the bill of the Picnic, which will take place on May 30 and 31: R&B singer Kehlani, who had the biggest hit of her career last year with the Grammy-winning “Folded,” which was co-written and produced by Philadelphia’s Andre Harris; R&B-pop star Brandy, playing the Picnic for the first time, Atlanta rapper T.I., and 1990s Daisy Age rappers De La Soul.
Atlanta R&B singer Mariah the Scientist will also play the Picnic, which will continue featuring the Washington D.C. funk genre known as Go Go, with a 50th anniversary celebration of Go Go Music.
DJ Jazzy Jeff is also on the bill. The turntablist and producer teamed with Will Smith aka the Fresh Prince on the 1991 hit “Summertime” which immortalized the Picnic’s new location with the lyric “back in Philly we be out in the Park, a place called the Plateau where everybody go.” His segment is called DJ Jazzy Jeff’s Magnificent Block Party.
Philly bassist and bandleader Adam Blackstone will present a tribute to the soundtrack to the 1995 Whitney Houston-starring movie Waiting To Exhale, which will feature Yolanda Adams, Tamar Braxton, Ledisi, and Andra Day.
The bill also includes Corinne Bailey Rae, Bilal, Destin Conrad, KWN, Jermaine Dupree and Friends, Saha Kabel, and Joe Kay (Soulection).
This year’s J.Period Mixtape, always a highlight of the festival, will feature Black Thought of the Roots and Wale.
Badu has a long history with the Roots and Philadelphia, dating back to her breakout 1997 debut album Baduizm, which was partially locally recorded at Sigma Sound Studios and Ivory Studios.
» READ MORE: The Roots Picnic announces move to the Belmont Plateau
The Dallas progressive R&B and funk singer and bandleader also sang the vocal hook — which was written by Jill Scott — on the 1999 Roots song, “You Got Me,” which is the band’s biggest hit. Backed by the Roots, Badu headlined the Picnic in 2015, when it was held at the Festival Pier on the banks of the Delaware River.
Since the announcement of Jaÿ-Z’s headlining set with the Roots on Saturday May 30, the Brooklyn rapper and entertainment mogul has announced two shows in July at New York’s Yankee Stadium, one celebrating the 30th anniversary of his debut album Reasonable Doubt and another the 25th of 2001’s The Blueprint. Chances are, both of those records will be featured during his Picnic set.
No details have yet been announced about the logistics of presenting the Picnic at the Plateau, other than a second entrance point being planned to reduce time ticket holders spend waiting in line.
Last year’s Picnic was marred by a muddy field caused by torrential rain at the Mann that caused long delays entering the venue, where the event was held both outdoors and in the venue’s covered TD Pavilion. The Plateau, of course, does not have a roof.
Roots Picnic two day passes are for sale at RootsPicnic.com.