The rap legend reminded the world he’s still a force of nature with commanding performances of classics like “Hovi Baby” and “No Church in the Wild.”
Let this remind you: Jay-Z still doesn’t pull punches.
The legendary rapper returned to the stage for a rare solo performance on Saturday, setting the bar high for his contemporaries as he took shots at many of them. Roots Picnic, an annual music festival created by the legendary hip-hop collective the Roots, shocked fans by announcing Jay-Z as one of this year’s headliners. The group actually backed the rapper born Shawn Carter on stage, accompanying him through cinematic renditions of some of his biggest hits.
But Saturday’s performance at the Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia has garnered even more wide-eyed attention for the new material Jay-Z tested out, much of it riven with cutting barbs for the likes of Ye, Nicki Minaj, and Drake — all of whom he’s collaborated with in the past.
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Jay-Z opened his set with a performance of his 2002 hit “Hovi Baby,” off the bestselling album The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse. With the Roots’ blaring brass behind him, HOV welcomed attendees and livestream watchers alike back to the “Jay-Z extravaganza,” as the song’s opening bar goes.
It was no holds barred on the freestyle that followed. Jay-Z had harsh words for not only Ye, Minaj, Drake, and his Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder, Damon “Dame” Dash, but also, Tory Lanez, the rapper who is currently serving prison time after being found guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion (a Roc Nation artist); Tory’s father; and many more.
Videos posted by Roc Nation and attendees of the festival show Jay-Z taking aim at Drake, who recently dissed him on several songs from one of his three recent albums, Iceman. “We know how you OGs rockin’ already, my n—-, the jig is up,” Drake rapped on “Janice STFU,” prompting Jay-Z to counter on Saturday, “The jig is up, n—- I’m up 10, wrong chart champ, n—– looked up to Hov, I never looked up to them.”
As for Minaj, Jay-Z went for the jugular. His disses focused on the “Anaconda” rapper’s controversial relationship with husband Kenneth Petty, who was convicted of attempted rape in the first degree in 1995, after assaulting 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. “A rapper can’t be my opp, I got MAGA republicans.”
Finally, Jay-Z brought the heat to Ye’s doorstep. The musician and multi-hyphenate who previously performed under his birth name, Kanye West, was Jay-Z’s closest collaborator among his targets from Saturday’s performance. The pair’s creative partnership stretches all the way back to the early 2000s, when Jay jumped on Ye’s “Never Let Me Down,” and culminated in the 2011 collaborative album Watch the Throne.
But Ye has mired himself in a thicket of controversy over the past few years, issuing an apology in January for his history of hurtful statements actions, particularly those directed at Jewish people.
At the Roots Picnic, Jay-Z seemingly addressed Ye’s erratic behavior by rapping, “You’re no maniac, watch how sane he act in my presence,” and, “Y’all thugs with y’all thumbs again. Everybody think they the ones insane.”
