Jay-Z (Getty Images)
On Saturday (March 30), Jay-Z headlined the annual Roots Picnic festival in Philadelphia, marking his first solo headlining performance in over five years. The highly anticipated performance also served as a prelude to a series of upcoming concerts in New York City celebrating the 30th anniversary of his debut album. Reasonable Doubt and its 2001 sequel, The Blueprint . Watch the video of the performance and the full list of songs below.
During his 90-minute set, Jay-Z performed more than 30 songs from his repertoire, demonstrating a love of both big hits ("Dirt Off Your Shoulders," "Empire State of Mind," "Run This Town," "N*gga's In Paris") and lesser-known compositions ("Can I Live," "Marcy Me"). He was accompanied by The Roots, with whom he famously collaborated on his live album. MTV Unplugged 2001, along with invited guests including Jazmine Sullivan, Meek Mill (who performed his beloved Philly anthem "Dreams & Nightmares"), and Bilal. The show also featured an unofficial reunion of State Property, with Beanie Sigel, Freeway, Peedi Crakk, Memphis Bleek, and Young Gunz making appearances.
One of the biggest surprises of the evening came just minutes into Jay-Z's set. Opening with 2002's "Hovi Baby," the rapper unexpectedly performed a four-minute freestyle, which he explained to the crowd he hadn't rehearsed while practicing with The Roots. During the a cappella performance, he appeared to criticize Drake ("These motherfuckers took your publishing checks, go talk to them hard, don't talk to me about success"), Nicki Minaj, and Kanye West, whom Jay-Z chided for derogatory comments he made. rapper last year, directed at Beyoncé and Jay-Z's children. "You ever heard of a miracle family? My kids are one of them," he rapped. "Don't you niggas have no shame? You really trying to piss me off? I'm really going to piss you off (stab)." (Despite the criticism, Jay-Z still performed several songs from his collaborative album with West.) Watch the Throne , including "No Church in the Wild" and "Gotta Have It".)
The freestyle came shortly after a recent interview. GQ , in which Jay-Z shared his thoughts on rap feuds in general. He attributed them to what he called the "four pillars of hip-hop": breakdancing, graffiti, DJing, and battling, and expressed concern about how modern diss tracks have gone beyond simple "sparring" and into defamation. "It's gone too far. People's kids are getting dragged into it. I don't like that," he said. "It used to be a battle, it was fun, and you moved on. Now, I don't know if that can stand the test of time with the technology we have.".
In 2017, Jay-Z released his latest solo album. 4:44 . In 2018, he also released an album with Beyoncé. Everything Is Love under the pseudonym The Carters.
List of songs from Jay-Z Roots Picnic 2026 concert :
Hovi Baby Freestyle U Don't Know FucskWithMeYouKnowIGotIt N*gga What, N*gga Who (Originator 99) Run This Town Jigga My N*gga No Church in the Wild (with Bilal) Where I'm From/Marcy Me Empire State of Mind Dirt Off My Shoulders I Know Never Change Feelin' It (with Jazmine Sullivan) Need U Bad (Jazmine Sullivan solo) Can I Live The Story of OJ Dead Presidents I & II Excuse Me Miss/La La La You, Me, Him and Her (with Memphis Bleek and Beanie Sigel) Gotta Have It (Beanie Sigel and Peedi Crakk) Roc the Mic (Freeway and Beanie Sigel) Flipside (Freeway and Peedi Crakk) Can't Stop, Won't Stop (Young Gunz) What We Do (with Freeway and Beanie Sigel) N*ggas in Paris Dreams and Nightmares (with Meek Mill) (Meek Mill solo) Roc Boys (And the winner is)… I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)/Big Pimpin' Public Service Announcement
Original article published on Pitchfork.