Amid ICE Raids and Anarchy, A Roots Picnic Experience Taught Us What Resistance Sounds Like

The Roots blessed approximately 17,000 attendees at the Hollywood Bowl with what can only be described as a religious awakening.

As Toi Derricotte once famously declared, “Joy is an act of resistance.”

So, as a collective Los Angeles community, despite inhumane ICE raids and the antagonistic presence of the National Guard, we refuse to allow a fascist regime to steal ours.

To that end, The Legendary Roots Crew—better known as simply The Roots to you poor, unfortunate souls who had no idea they were a whole-ass, Grammy Award-winning juggernaut prior to sprinkling cracked pepper and onion powder all over Jimmy Fallon—descended upon the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday night and blessed approximately 17,000 attendees with what can only be described as a religious awakening.

Kicking things off with a delicious appetizer of tasty treats like “Mellow My Man” and “Proceed” from their sophomore album “Do You Want More?!!!??!”—because serial punctuation abuse was very much a thing in a past life—The Roots then invited Havoc of Mobb Deep in on the fun to bless the crowd with bangers like “Give Up the Goods,” “Burn,” and a vicious Black Thought freestyle that could part the Red Sea with relative ease.

Goodie Mob came next, and as someone who spent his adolescence reciting the personal testimonies of T-Mo, Khujo, Big Gipp, and Cee-Lo, I found myself grinning ear to ear as they mused about whoever it was “peekin’ in their window.” I also might’ve sprained my neck bobbing to a nasty, “Rigor Mortis”-tinged remix of the Dungeon Family rappers’ signature Southern staple, “Soul Food.”

Next up was DJ Quik—one of my favorite artists in the history of ever—who was kind enough to remind us that he was “Born and Raised in Compton” before raising a glass and dancing with the rest of us to “Pitch In on a Party” and arguably the greatest house party bop of all time: Tony! Toni! Toné!’s “Let’s Get Down.”

(It was at this exact moment that I caught the Holy Ghost, thrust my tambourine into the sky, and shook it violently.)

But let me say this: A play-by-play of each performance just doesn’t do the beautiful night that was justice. Yes, E-40, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, the homie Mad Skillz, Raekwon, Lil’ Kim, headliners Redman and Method Man, and Brooklyn-based DJ extraordinaire J. Period would each join the festivities and take turns mesmerizing the crowd—with Bone closing out the evening with “Crossroads,” because, of course—but the true star of the show was the synergy between acts.

Effortlessly helmed by The Roots, each song hit entirely different with unique arrangements, jaw-dropping freestyles courtesy of Black Thought, seamless transitions, and a raucous crowd loving every bit of it.

It was the timely antidote that a weary Los Angeles—beaten down by “unconstitutional and immoral” immigration raids—desperately needed.

Because joy is an act of resistance.

And despite spiteful orchestration from an orange idiot who habitually mistakes cruelty for governance, we’ll always find a reason to smile.