The Roots’ Black Thought Has Sneakers and Picnic Baskets for Sale Ahead of Philly Festival

Philadelphia Hip-Hop group The Roots are easily one of the busiest acts in the business. Not only are they the house band for NBC’s evening juggernaut The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, but they’ve also managed to steadily release albums, perform in concert and cultivate a cult-like following, particularly of drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and rapper frontman Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter.

This weekend (June 3) The Roots will host their tenth annual Roots Picnic in their hometown at Festival Pier, and the crew’s Black Thought decided to add a new gig to his resume for the music-filled Saturday: sneaker-seller.

Partnering with indie sneaker brand, Clear Weather and shoe cleaning line Jason Markk, Black Thought is releasing a clean, chic white sneaker to celebrate 10 years of the one-day festival. It’s called the “Jones C.”, comes picnic basket, blanket and “picnic wipes” (Markk’s cleaners) just in case they’re scuffed while dancing. With performances from Pharrell, Lil Wayne, Solange and The Roots, it surely will be hard to stand still.

Thought’s Jones C goes on sale June 1 exclusively at UBIQ in Philadelphia and on the Clear Weather website.

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