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Jay-Z Headlines Roots Picnic in Philadelphia, Joined by Jazmine Sullivan, Bilal, and Meek Mill

Jay-Z’s headlining performance at the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia featured an array of guest artists including Jazmine Sullivan, Bilal, and Meek Mill, delivering a triumphant show.

Variety Music·May 31, 2026·via Variety Music

Jay-Z Headlines Roots Picnic in Philadelphia, Joined by Jazmine Sullivan, Bilal, and Meek Mill

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May 31, 2026 12:53am PT

Jay-Z Brings New York Flair to Philadelphia for Triumphant Roots Picnic Performance Featuring Jazmine Sullivan, Bilal and Meek Mill: Concert Review

By Steven J. Horowitz

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Steven J. Horowitz

Senior Music Writer

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As it turned out, Jay-Z had been quietly setting the stage over the past few months for what we could expect during his headlining show at the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia. On streaming, he’d changed his name from Jay-Z to its original spelling, JA&Yuml;-Z, perhaps a wink and a nod that it would be a tried-and-true career retrospective. Then, he started digitizing his singles catalog, releasing studio versions of classic tracks along with their radio edits — a subtle reminder that, amid all the headlines that have dogged him over the past few years, those songs have shelf lives that stretch back to the deep recesses of the 1990s, and formed the backbone of a career that’s been built piece by piece across the bookends of two millennia.