Jay-Z took aim at Drake, Ye, Nicki Minaj, and others during a Roots Picnic freestyle. When the rapper grabbed the mic, he started dropping names. For those unversed, the festival is known for its emphasis on music, community, and collaborative performances.
Jay-Z disses multiple music stars in new freestyle
Jay-Z wove critiques of several major music stars in a new, unscripted freestyle. The rap legend returned on Saturday, May 30, for a rare solo show at Philly’s Belmont Plateau and challenged his contemporaries mid-set.
Roots Picnic, the yearly festival founded by The Roots, surprised everyone by adding Jay-Z to this year’s lineup. The 56-year-old started his performance with “Hovi Baby,” the 2002 hit from his bestselling album The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse. Backed by The Roots’ booming brass section, HOV welcomed both the live audience and viewers tuning in online to the “Jay-Z extravaganza.”
During the freestyle, Jay-Z unloaded harsh verses aimed at Ye, Nicki Minaj, Drake, and Damon “Dame” Dash, the Roc-A-Fella co-founder. He also called out Tory Lanez, who’s serving time for shooting Roc Nation’s Megan Thee Stallion, Tory’s father, and several others.
Roc Nation and fan footage captured Jay-Z responding to Drake’s recent Iceman disses. After Drake said “the jig is up” on “Janice STFU,” he countered live. “The jig is up, n**** I’m up 10, wrong chart champ, n**** looked up to Hov, I never looked up to them.”
With Minaj, Jay-Z aimed his disses at her relationship with husband Kenneth Petty. A jury convicted him of first-degree attempted rape in 1995 after he assaulted a 16-year-old girl. “That lady back on that stuff, she sounds like she’s in love with ’em. Her Ken can’t even pick their kid… enough of them,” he rapped.
The “99 Problems” hitmaker closed out the shots aimed at Ye, his closest creative ally among Saturday targets. During his Roots Picnic set, he appeared to address Ye’s unpredictable behavior directly. “You’re no maniac, watch how sane he act in my presence,” he rapped. “Y’all thugs with y’all thumbs again. Everybody think they the ones insane.”
Ye and Jay-Z’s partnership dates back to the early 2000s with Jay-Z’s verse on Ye’s “Never Let Me Down.” It peaked a decade later with the 2011 album Watch the Throne.
Originally reported by Sibanee Gogoi on Mandatory.
