Looking out over the audience at the Crystal Palace Bowl, Nas feels moved to reminisce about his first visit to London. It was in 1994, around the time he released his landmark debut album Illmatic; he remembers performing on pirate radio stations and “eating good Jamaican food”. It seems unlikely that he ever thought he’d be back in the capital sharing the stage with a man playing a sousaphone, but such is the power of the Roots Picnic, a US institution for nearly 20 years. Its famously eclectic bill has regularly featured great rappers backed by hip-hop’s premier live band, sousaphone player and all: Lil’ Wayne, the Wu-Tang Clan, Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z.
Before Nas appears at the festival’s first London iteration, the Roots play their own set, augmented by a guest appearance from Common. It plays out almost as one long medley which shifts restlessly between their own back catalogue and old funk, soul and disco covers. They do a killer version of James Brown’s The Payback. Awesomely tight, driven by the relentless crack of drummer Questlove’s snare and heavy on jazzy brass solos, it’s a perfect demonstration of the unique musical space they’ve carved out over the years, somewhere between hip-hop and jam band: the Grateful Dead of rap, if you like.
