Jay-Z Disses Drake, Nicki Minaj and Kanye West in Freestyle at 2025 Roots Picnic

*Jay-Z stepped onto the Belmont Plateau stage at The Roots Picnic in Philadelphia on May 30 and launched into a four-minute freestyle targeting Drake, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Tory Lanez, Dame Dash, and Jaguar Wright before serving up a 31-song set.

The rap mogul joined The Roots to headline night one of the festival’s 18th annual edition, and the freestyle drew immediate reaction online, The Mirror reports. The bars about Nicki Minaj sparked some of the sharpest responses after Jay rapped, “That lady back on that stuff, she sounds like she’s in love with ’em. Her Ken can’t even pick their kid, enough of them.” The mention of Ken was widely seen as a double dig, as Nicki’s husband, Kenneth Petty, carries a registered sex offender status.

The diss follows months-long social media dispute in which Minaj accused Jay-Z and Roc Nation of failing to pay out millions she claimed she was owed from a 3% equity stake in TIDAL, receiving only $1 million in 2021. She also criticized what she described as Roc Nation’s grip on industry opportunities.

Turning to Kanye West, Jay referenced Ye’s past public commentary about the cognitive abilities of Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s younger children. “WAIT, HAS ANYONE EVER SEEN JAY AND BEYONCES YOUNGER KIDS? THEYRE RETARDED,” West wrote on X in 2025, before defending artificial insemination as a means to avoid having children with disabilities. He added, “JAY Z OR NOBODY HAVE NO POWER OVER ME.”

In response, Jay rapped Saturday: “You ever heard of wonder-kin? My children are some of them / Have you n–as have no shame? You really wanna get under my skin? / I’ll really get under ya skin (stab), ask Un how I’m playing.”

The “Un” reference alluded to music executive Lance “Un” Rivera, who was stabbed by Jay-Z at a New York nightclub in 1999.

“Y’all thugs with y’all thumb again, everybody thinks they’re the ones insane / You’re no maniac, watch how he sane he acts in my presence, n–as shrink,” Jay-Z said of Ye during the freestyle.

The night ended with guest appearances from Meek Mill, Jazmine Sullivan, Bilal, and State Property. Jay-Z has three sold-out Yankee Stadium shows this summer.