In his nearly four-minute freestyle, Jay-Z addressed all the criticism leveled at him during his performance on Saturday.
After a seven-year hiatus, Jay-Z returned to the stage Saturday night as the headliner at the Roots Picnic festival in Philadelphia.
Over 40,000 people attended the first day of the annual event, held for the first time on Belmont. The main attraction of the evening was Brooklyn rapper Shawn Carter, who opened for the event with The Roots. Sporting a new hairstyle after years of rocking a curly lock, he unexpectedly captivated the crowd with a nearly four-minute freestyle.
In his freestyle, 56-year-old Jay-Z criticized several leading artists, including Drake, Ye, and Nicki Minaj, who have also lashed out at the rapper known for his song "U Don't Know" in recent years. Most recently, Drake criticized Jay-Z several times on his latest album, "Iceman," particularly in the song "Janice STFU.".
In the nearly four-minute track, the OVO founder raps, "You boys got famous off my name, that's enough/ We already know how you old boys rock, my nigga, game over.".
On stage Saturday, Jay-Z responded to criticism from Drake, who called him one of the rap industry's oldest veterans, using the Canadian rapper's lyrics against him:
«"Game over, nigga, I'm 10 points ahead, not the same chart champ, you need to look up again. Niggas looked up to Hov, I never looked up to them. These motherfuckers took your publishing checks, go and have a serious conversation with them. Don't talk to me about success, you niggas are employees forever, it's written in your contract," Jay-Z rapped in his new freestyle.
Another critic of HOV is Ye, who was once one of Jay-Z's closest friends and associates before their much-discussed fallout. As theGrio reported, in March 2025, the rapper, known for his hit "All Falls Down," made an offensive comment about Beyoncé and Jay-Z's twins, Rumi and Sir, on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
«"WAIT, HAS ANYONE EVER SEEN JAY-Z AND BEYONCE'S YOUNGEST KIDS?" Ye wrote in a post on his page, hinting that the couple's children have special needs.
Jay-Z responded to the criticism by defending his children and hinting that Ye also has his own issues he needs to work through:
«"My kids are one of them, don't you niggas have no shame? You tryna piss me off, but I really do. Ask Ung how I play. You're thinking with your thumbs again. Everybody thinks they're the crazy ones. You ain't no maniacs. Look how he act around me, niggas cringe.".
Queens rapper Nicki Minaj has also criticized Jay-Z for years on various issues, including claims that he owed her money and never paid. In July 2025, Minaj aired her grievances in a series of posts on X, criticizing Jay-Z and Roc Nation executives. Three months later, in October, Minaj accused Jay-Z of wearing a wig and a lace wig in posts published on her official X account, Mediatakeout reports.
«"This woman is hooked on these things again, like she's in love with them. Her Ken can't even... handle a child... enough of them," Jay-Z said, alluding to Minaj's drug use and accusing her husband, Kenneth Petty, of being a registered sex offender.
He also reached out to his former business partner and Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Dame Dash, as well as singer-songwriter Jaguar Wright, after both made negative comments about the rapper over the years.
Jay-Z then concluded the freestyle, seamlessly transitioning into The Blueprint classic "U Don't Know," which drew a reaction from the crowd immediately after the beat began. He then performed a number of other hits from his career, including "F**kWithMeYouKnowIGotIt," "Jigga My N***a," "Run This Town," "Dead Presidents I & II," and more, Complex reports.
The nearly three-hour performance wowed guests, including several members of State Property, as well as Philadelphia artists Freeway, Beenie Siegel, Peedi Crakk, and Memphis Bleek, who performed several Rocafella classics. Meanwhile, Meek Mill got the crowd dancing to "Dreams and Nightmares," and Jazmin Sullivan performed "Feelin' It" and "Need U Bad" from Jay-Z's 2008 debut album, "Fearless.".
At the end of the show, Jay-Z expressed how great it was to be back on stage and interacting with his fans: "I miss this shit, honestly.".
Hov's performance at Roots Picnic is a prelude to his three highly anticipated concerts at Yankee Stadium in July.
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