During freestyle at the Roots Picnic festival Jay-Z lashed out at Drake, Ye, Nicki Minaj and others. Taking the microphone, the rapper began listing names. For those unfamiliar, the festival is known for its emphasis on music, community, and collaborative performances.
Jay-Z insulted several music stars in a new freestyle.
Jay-Z wove criticism of several major music stars into a new, impromptu freestyle. The rap legend returned on Saturday, May 30, for a rare solo concert at Philadelphia's Belmont Plateau, challenging his contemporaries during his set.
Roots Picnic, an annual celebration founded by The Roots, surprised everyone by including Jay-Z in its lineup this year. The 56-year-old musician opened his set with the 2002 hit "Hovi Baby" from his bestselling album, The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse. Backed by The Roots' powerful horn section, HOV welcomed both the audience and online viewers to join in on the "Jay-Z extravaganza.".
During his freestyle, Jay-Z took aim at Ye, Nicki Minaj, Drake, and Damon "Dame" Dash, co-founder of Roc-A-Fella. He also mentioned Tory Lanez, who is serving time for shooting Megan Thee Stallion of Roc Nation, Tory's father, and several others.
Roc Nation and fan videos captured Jay-Z's response to Drake's recent insults toward Iceman. After Drake said "game over" in "Janice STFU," he responded live on air: "Game over, nigga, I'm 10 points ahead, not that chart-topping nigga, nigga that looked up to Hov, I never looked up to them.".
In his songs, Jay-Z has vented his anger at Minaj's relationship with her husband, Kenneth Petty. In 1995, he was found guilty of attempted first-degree rape after he assaulted a 16-year-old girl. He rapped, "This woman who's always doing shit, sounds like she's in love with them. Her Ken can't even pick his own child...there aren't enough of them anyway.".
The "99 Problems" singer has completed a series of attacks on Ye, his closest creative ally, who became a target on Saturday. During his performance at Roots Picnic, he appeared to directly address Ye's erratic behavior. "You ain't no maniac, look how he actin' around me," he rapped. "You thugs, you're acting up again. Everyone thinks they're the crazy ones.".
Ye and Jay-Z's collaboration began in the early 2000s with Jay-Z's verse on Ye's song "Never Let Me Down." The peak of his success came a decade later with the release of the album Watch the Throne in 2011.
Sibani Gogoi's original report was published on the Mandatory website.
The article "Jay-Z Takes Aim at Drake, Ye, and More in His Roots Picnic Freestyle" first appeared on Reality Tea.