Jay-Z Seemingly Takes Dig at Drake, Kanye West and Nicki Minaj with Roots Picnic Freestyle
The hour-and-a-half set featured Philly guests and a four-minute acapella freestyle ahead of three sold-out Yankee Stadium shows.
- Jay-Z headlined the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia on Saturday, marking his first solo show since at least 2019, while debuting a new Afro that reinforced his status as a preeminent emcee of his generation.
- Backed by the Roots, Jay-Z reunited with the Philadelphia band 25 years after their 2001 MTV Unplugged collaboration for a career retrospective that blended New York and Philly culture across his catalog.
- Philly guests Meek Mill, Jazmine Sullivan, and State Property featured prominently; Sullivan performed "Need U Bad," while State Property reunited to perform "Roc the Mic" with their labelhead.
- A four-minute acapella freestyle delivered after "Hovi Baby" drove much of the performance's social takeaway, with Jay-Z appearing to address detractors via lyrics including "The jig is up, I."
- The performance precedes three sold-out shows at Yankee Stadium in July, two honoring the 25th and 30th anniversaries of his albums "The Blueprint" and "Reasonable Doubt.
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19 Articles
Jay-Z Brings New York Flair to Philadelphia for Triumphant Roots Picnic Performance Featuring Jazmine Sullivan, Bilal and Meek Mill: Concert Review
Jay-Z paid homage to Philadelphia while infusing it with New York flair during his grand return to the stage at the Roots Picnic.
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Jay-Z Fires Shots At Kanye, Drake, Nicki, Dame Dash & More
Source: Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty JAY-Z didn’t just perform at Roots Picnic. He spent part of his freestyle settling old scores. Throughout the verse, Hov appeared to take direct shots at Kanye West, Dame Dash, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Jaguar Wright and even referenced one of the most controversial moments of his career. “You’re no maniac” was aimed at Kanye West. “Teeth fumbling” was a jab at Dame Dash. “A rapper can’t be my opp” dismissed Drake. …
CHOCHILINO Jay-Z Brings New York Flair to Philadelphia for Triumphant Roots Picnic Performance Featuring Jazmine Sullivan, Bilal and Meek Mill: Concert Review %
As it turned out, Jay-Z had been quietly setting the stage over the past few months for what we could expect during his headlining show at the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia. On streaming, he’d changed his name from Jay-Z to its original spelling, JAŸ-Z, perhaps a wink and a nod that it would be a tried-and-true career retrospective. Then, he started digitizing his singles catalog, releasing studio versions of classic tracks along with their radio…
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