Black Thought, Common, Freeway, Method Man, and Redman Remix “4,3,2,1” at The Roots’ Picnic Festival

On June 1, The Roots’ Picnic Festival delivered an unforgettable performance featuring Black Thought, Common, Freeway, Method Man, and Redman. These legendary MCs joined forces to remix LL Cool J’s classic hip-hop posse cut, “4,3,2,1,” originally from LL Cool J’s 1997 album Phenomenon. The classic track, which featured LL Cool J, Canibus, DMX, and Master P, received a fresh twist as part of J.Period’s Live Mixtape set at the festival.

Black Thought, known for his remarkable freestyle abilities, also performed over several iconic instrumentals during the set. These included Wu-Tang Clan’s “Protect Ya Neck,” Raekwon’s “Ice Cream,” and GZA’s “Shadowboxin’.”

Questlove, The Roots’ drummer and co-founder, took to social media to reflect on the event. He reminisced about the group’s journey, starting with their performance at Glastonbury in 1999 and bringing their festival to Philadelphia in 2008. Praising the recent performance by Black Thought and company, Questlove stated, “This moment was epic: @methodmanofficial, @redmangilla, @phillyfreeway, @common, @jperiodbk, @stroelliot, and their fearless leader @blackthought making it look so easy. Thank you, Philadelphia.”