The Roots Picnic Experience: Class Of ’95 Brings Golden Age Of Hip-Hop To The Hollywood Bowl [Recap/Photos/Videos]

On Sunday night, the Hollywood Bowl transformed into a time machine set to 1995, as The Roots returned for their second annual Roots Picnic Experience in Los Angeles. This time, they were joined by what they dubbed “The Class of ‘95,” with the likes of Havoc from Mobb Deep, The Goodie Mob, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, DJ Quik, E-40, Lil’ Kim, and 30% of the Wu-Tang Clan (Raekwon, Method Man, and Redman), bringing a heavy dose of nostalgia for the 17,000 hip-hop heads in attendance.

Hosted during BET Awards week, when half the rap game (if not more) was already in Los Angeles, this year’s Roots Picnic took full advantage of the moment. And no one knows how to wrangle a nonstop medley of legends like The Roots. The Philadelphia-based legends are practically the Avengers of hip-hop instrumentation. Sure, they hold it down every weeknight as the Tonight Show house band, but this? This is their real playground.

This was three hours of live-band bliss, full of seamless transitions, deep cuts, throwback collabs, and the kind of ‘90s magic that likely had many in the audience dusting off their old beepers just for kicks.

The Roots set it off in classic fashion, with “Proceed” bleeding into “Distortion to Static” before Black Thought welcomed the packed crowd back to the Bowl. From there, it was off to the races. “Mellow My Man” lit the fuse, and then came the guests.

Havoc of Mobb Deep stepped up first, dropping “Give Up The Goods”, “Survival of the Fittest”, and “The Learning”. The Roots’ live band added a whole new depth to those haunting piano loops, making the tracks feel even darker under the Bowl’s soft glow.

Next came Goodie Mob, still grimy, still wise, still Atlanta. “Dirty South” hit hard, “Black Ice” got the crowd swaying, and when CeeLo Green launched into “Cell Therapy”—“Who’s that peepin’ in my window?”—the whole place answered back like a laidback chorus.

Then came DJ Quik. The West Coast wizard with a jheri curl bounce nearly brought the house down with “Born and Raised in Compton”, “Tonite”, and “Pitch In Ona Party”. He even dropped a slick tribute to Tony! Toni! Toné with a bit of “Let’s Get Down”, the crowd buzzing as he paid homage to the Oakland R&B icons. And yes, Quik was as hilariously filthy and funky as ever in his velour jumpsuit.

E-40 followed, sprinkling the Bowl with Bay Area game. “Tell Me When To Go” nearly collapsed the stands. “Captain Save a Hoe”? Still timeless. And by busting out “Snap Yo Fingers” and “I Don’t F**k With You”, E-40 reminded the audience that his fingerprints are all over every generation of hip-hop since he made his debut in the mid-1980s.

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s set was pure Midwest magic: machine-gun flows delivered with eerie, melodic precision that turned the Hollywood Bowl into East 1999 for a solid 15 minutes. The Cleveland crew came out swinging with “Thuggish Ruggish Bone”, their harmonies tight as ever, before slipping into the hometown anthem “Cleveland Is the City”. The crowd roared when the ominous piano of “1st of tha Month” dropped, and “Foe tha Love of $” got every arm waving like it was ’95 on BET’s Rap City. But the heaviest moment came with “Notorious Thugs”, their classic collab with Biggie, which served as both a flex and a tribute. Their verses sliced through The Roots’ live reinterpretation with haunting clarity, cementing their place in the pantheon of ’90s greatness.

Raekwon brought Wu-Tang’s Brooklyn hustle to the hills with “Incarcerated Scarfaces” and “Can It All Be So Simple”, then came back later with Redman and Method Man to turn the Bowl into Shaolin. Between “Protect Ya Neck”, “Shame on a N****”, and “C.R.E.A.M.”, the show became a full-blown Wu-Tang celebration—conveniently timed, too, given the impending start of the group’s farewell tour. Method and Red’s chemistry was electric, especially when they hit “Da Rockwilder” and “How High”. At one point, they were just riffing off each other, clowning and cracking smiles like two cousins on the block.

Lil’ Kim strutted out with all the attitude and legacy the crowd could’ve hope for. “Crush On You”, “It’s All About the Benjamins”, and a sultry take on “Baby Give Me One More Chance” reminded everyone why she’s still the Queen Bee. She even brought back Havoc for a run at “Quiet Storm”, cementing her seat on the throne.

The Roots, being The Roots, stitched the night together with a wild, genre-jumping medley. It started with “The Breaks” (KRS-One), flew into “Can’t Keep Running Away” (The Pharcyde), “Doin’ It” (LL Cool J), “California Love”, “Gangsta’s Paradise”, “Regulate”, and even “Killing Me Softly” by The Fugees. It was like an old mixtape came to life, plus backing vocals, brass, and Questlove holding it all down like a metronome of the culture. Mad Skillz added some East Coast punch, joining in for snippets of “Can We Talk” (Tevin Campbell) and “I Wanna Be Down” (Brandy).

Just when everyone thought the night had peaked, Havoc and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony returned to the stage to join in a furious finale with The Roots, Raekwon, Method Man, and Redman. That crew combined brilliantly on Mobb Deep’s “Shook One, Pt. II” and Method Man and Redman’s “Da Rockwilder” before the emotional closer of “Tha Crossroads”. As they sang, a montage played across the Bowl’s screens, showing a litany of hip-hop luminaries gone too soon—from Tupac, Biggie, Aaliyah, and DMX, to Mac Miller, Coolio, Eazy-E, Mac Dre, and more.

Some lit up joints. Some raised phones. Some just swayed silently. It was the heart of the show—the “In Memoriam” that reminded everyone just how golden this era truly was.

All told, The Roots Picnic: Class of ’95 was a living, breathing tribute to the era that birthed modern hip-hop. It was bars and beats, fades and memories, legends and legacies, all wrapped in the masterful touch of The Roots.

No intermissions. No BS. Just 25+ songs, one epic medley, and a reminder that the ‘90s will never die as long as there’s a beat to bang and a mic to spit into.

Class dismissed, but this reunion will be talked about for a long time.