Not long ago, Jay-Z spoke in an interview following Kendrick and Drake’s feud that battle rap might not be the best choice for hip-hop. However, now that things have gotten personal, Jay-Z is back on offense.
During a performance with The Roots, Jay-Z improvised on stage and took shots at a group of rappers who had pissed him off over the past year or so. No one was spared. Drake, Nicki Minaj, Tory Lanez, Kanye West and Dame Dash all got what they wanted.
Perhaps the most striking shot was taken of Drake, who subliminally shot Jay-Z on “Janice STFU,” off his latest album Iceman. While Drake didn’t mention Jay-Z by name, he played “Jigga” and “Roc Nation” in several bars, almost hinting that he was talking about Jay-Z, “You boys are into my name, that’s enough/We know you OGs have rocked my n***a, jig.”
JAY-Z’s total freestyle at Roots Picnic pic.twitter.com/FEeEMuNUqc
— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) May 31, 2026
In standard Hov style, Jay-Z fires back with this iconic set of bars in the freestyle: “The jig’s up / N***a I’m up 10 / Wrong chart, champ, you gotta look up again / N****s look up HOV / I’ve never looked up ’em.”
He also said of Mrs. Dash, “The other guy was clumsy, don’t know how I got blamed. Nigga’s teeth fell out of his mouth, and somehow I was the one who did it. It’s a real murder mystery, gang.” He was referring to an interview in which Mrs. Dash’s teeth apparently fell out while speaking.
Hov also hit back at Nicki Minaj for her constant trash talking about Tidal, Jay-Z and Roc Nation, rapping “That lady is back on that stuff, she sounds like she’s in love with ’em/Her Ken can’t even…choose ’em kids…they’re enough/A rapper can’t be my opponent, I got MAGA Republicans/Those shots come from the government good luck.”
Jay-Z even spared longtime collaborator Kanye and issued him a few warnings. He raps,
“Have you ever heard of the Amazing Ones? My kids are a part of it, don’t you guys have any shame? Do you really want to piss me off? I’m really going to piss you off, ask me how my game was…you guys are thugs with thumbs again, everyone thinks they’re crazy, you’re not crazy, look how sane he acts in front of me, n****s****s can only talk about this topic on social media. Real life is probably a whole other story.
Tory Lanez may be going to jail, but that doesn’t mean he’s immune to some jail time from Jay, too. Jay-Z rapped to what appeared to be Tory’s father, “The Republic of China ain’t falling apart ’til the goblin magically stopped playing pranks and your son was in federal prison muttering about how he drank too much. Do you know how stupid that is?” Apparently, Hough was referring to Tory’s call to Kelsey Harris, explaining that he was broken over the whole shooting with Megan Thee Stallion and the subsequent shootings.
For those who thought Jay-Z’s interview about battle rap was a weakness, this is a clear message: don’t poke fun at one of the best MCs of all time. What do you think?
