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Black Thought & Plug 2 AKA Dove of De La Soul at Roots Picnic 2012
Philadelphia, PA- June 2 : (L-R) The ROOTS, De La Soul, Yasiin Bey perform at the 5th Annual ROOTS Picnic held at Festival Pier at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia, PA on June 2, 2012 in Phiidelphia, PA. The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are known for a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which includes live instrumentals. (Photo by Terrence Jennings/PictureGroup)

Photo: Roots Picnic 2012 Recap, Part 2!

Black Thought & Plug 2 AKA Dove of De La Soul at Roots Picnic 2012

Photos by Mel D. Cole courtesy of Village Slum

There goes Round 1. Ding! Here goes Round 2. Technically, Part 2 of our Roots Picnic 2012 photo recap, this time the black-and-white edition from ill photographeurMel D. Cole of Village Slum. Amongst those of us who were along for the ride, the word 'epic' was used to describe the weekend; a perfect storm (sometimes literally) of crowd-surfing energy, rap legends and forward-looking music of all kinds. Mel's lens goes a long way toward capturing that epic quality, a pleasure to look at whether you were there or not. To really recreate the experience, scroll through these beauties in rapid succession while DJ Low B's Official Roots Picnic mixtape in the background--instant desktop concert.

Danny Brown X Mr MFN Exquire backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Danny Brown + Mr. MFN eXquire = Rock star sh*t.

Diplo pon speakerbox during Major Lazer's set at The Roots Picnic 2012

Pon De Speakerbox (Diplo during Major Lazer's set on the main festival stage)

Diplo going off during Major Lazer's set at The Roots Picnic 2012

Diplo letting off during Major Lazer's Set.

Philly girls at The Roots Picnic 2012

Philly girls represent.

Who Cares? indeed (crowd at The Roots Picnic 2012)

Who Cares, indeed.

Questlove & Yasiin Bey (FKA Mos Def) connect backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Questlove & Yasiin connect backstage.

Plug 1 AKA Posdnuous of De La Soul onstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Plug 1 messing up minds with the Eye-patch.

De La Soul x The Roots onstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

De La Soul X The Roots.

Major Lazer's dancers onstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Major dance moves (Major Lazer dancers on main festival stage).

Diplo backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Diplo backstage.

Rakim onstage with The Roots at The Roots Picnic 2012

Rakim Allah touches the mic.

Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards onstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

A rebel yell from Merrill Garbus during Tune-Yards' set on the main festival stage.

J. Period, Jazzy Jeff & DJ Maseo backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Goddamn those DJs made our year: J. Period, Jazzy Jeff & Maseo.

backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Danny Brown & Nikki Jean backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Danny Brown, Nikki Jean + some baked goods backstage.

OCD: Moosh & Twist backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

OCD: Moosh & Twist.

Wale onstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Wale is the bomb, no lotus.

the crowd at The Roots Picnic 2012

MC = Move the Crowd.

Major Lazer dancers onstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Major Lazer dancers go 'pon their headtop as Walshy Fire runs tings.

Plug 2, Questlove & Yasiin Bey FKA Mos Def onstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Three Kings: Dove, ?uestlove & Yasiin onstage during De La Soul's headlining set.

Questlove of The Roots onstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Chairman of The Booms: ?uestlove onstage.

Tuba Gooding, Jr. of The Roots onstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Tuba Gooding, Jr.

Big R's food truck, backstage area at The Roots Picnic 2012

Big R's Food Truck, backstage area (best jerk chicken this side of Miss Lily's)

Mr. MFN eXquire backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Mr. MFN eXquire.

DJ Stretch Armstrong backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Stretch Armstrong.

Black Thought of The Roots backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Black Thought on Gryffindor.

Black Thought, Sadat X, Yasiin Bey FKA Mos Def backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Black Thought, Sadat X & Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian & Yasiin Bey.

Bassist Mark Kelly of The Roots onstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Bass-god Mark Kelly demonstrates his funkface.

James Poyser & friend backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

James Poyser & little dude.

Black Thought & Yasiin Bey FKA Mos Def, compare swag backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Black Thought & Yasiin Bey compare swag backstage.

Mr MFN eXquire onstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Mr. MFN eXquire enjoys the taste of grill.

Major Lazer onstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Serious ting. Diplo & Jillionaire of Major Lazer handle riddim duties during Major Lazer's set.

De La Soul onstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

De La Soul.

Wale onstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Wale.

Yasiin Bey FKA Mos Def onstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Yasiin Bey.

The Roots onstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

The Legendary Roots Crew.

Plug 1 AKA Posndnuos x Black Thought backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Plug 1 x Black Thought.

Questlove & friend backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

?uestlove & Malik B., outside Gryffindor.

Crowd at The Roots Picnic 2012

Standing out in a crowd (ok, sitting).

Danny Brown backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Danny Brown.

James Poyser, Amanda Seales FKA Amanda Diva, Captain Kirk Questlove backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Whole Dang Fam: James Poyser, Mark Kelly, Amanda Seales, Capn' Kirk & ?uestlove.

Freeway x Skillz backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Freeway x Skillz.

Freeway onstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Wit' One Arm He Spit! Freeway on the main stage during The Roots surprise jam session, Day 2.

Mr. MFN eXquire backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

DJ Maseo AKA Plug 3 Yasiin Bey FKA Mos Def & Questlove of The Roots backstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

Maseo, Yasiin & ?uesto.

Mel D. Cole, self-portrait with Amanda Seales FKA Amanda Diva

Mel D. Cole, self-portrait with Amanda Seales.

The Roots onstage at The Roots Picnic 2012

One.