The Faces Of Roots Picnic 2015: Backstage Portraits By Shayan Asgharnia [Photo Gallery]

Photos by Shayan Asgharnia for Okayplayer

Roots Picnic 2015, we may have mentioned, went down kinda big this past weekend. In addition to the incredible line up of intergenerational yet uniformly progressive sonic genius unfolding on Festival Pier's stages and DJ decks is the friends and family atmosphere of the backstage area; an equally key part of the Picnic experience. 2015 was no exception, even thought in a particularly Illadelphian spirit of democracy this year's picnic added a third stage to Festival Pier, giving up some of what was previously backstage to make room for even more music (and fans). The assembled talent bonded over BBQ and ping-pong instead of hoops but the vibe was as relaxed as ever as Nai Palm of Hiatus Kaiyote chatted with Moses Sumney and Erykah Badu posed for innumerable selfies with fans who were often famous in their own right. Jay Ellis from BET'S The Game came through, as well as friends of Okayplayer ranging from Madison McFerrin to Anna Wise of Sonnymoon. It was all imortalized in our backstage photo booth. This year's was presided over by the brilliant Shayan Asgharnia, who has clearly elevated the backstage vanity shot into a more transcendant type of art. The result is an incredible series of gallery-quality images..don't believe us just scroll through the images above...but whatever you do, don't try to hold Erykah Badu's gaze for too long. Or you're done for.