Jay-Z settles it

Last year, everybody was eagerly waiting for the Super Bowl halftime show. Not that they weren’t impatient this year, but 2025 was a bit special: first show with Trump back in power and the featured artist, Kendrick Lamar, has songs in his catalog that are famously political in nature. So we waited.

What came out of it were indeed references to the social and political context, with Samuel L. Jackson astutely playing Uncle Sam, but the culmination of the set was none other than “Not Like Us”, a song that has very little to do with politics — and much more to do with personal beef. That’s right: the hit track was the nail in the coffin in a long musical battle between Lamar and Drake, which many viewed as a fight over who should be considered the GOAT (today). The result was somewhat clear: one of the two ended up ridiculing the other at the Super Bowl.

Beefs are part and parcel of hip-hop. The genre is based on eloquence and wit, which aspiring MC’s showcase through rap battles. Sometimes, established artists keep the ball rolling, occasionally with tragic consequences. But such situations usually raise eyebrows.

For years, Jay-Z has been considered one of the very best in the history of hip-hop — and been fairly discreet when it came to his detractors. And he has quite a few: this is what happens when you are both one of the best rappers of all time — and one of the most successful businessmen around. And so he kept his mouth largely shut as fellow rapper Nicki Minaj, former business partner Damon Dash or Kanye West tarnished his name in very public ways.

Until a few days ago.

At this year’s Roots Picnic, hosted by Questlove’s legendary band, Jay-Z not only headlined the event but performed a surprise freestyle that blew through all of the aforementioned naysayers — and then some. Not only did he effectively destroy all of his critics, but he did so in a manner that showed the world why he is in the running for the actual GOAT title. Elaborating on a number of references to the various people he was firing back at, delivering burns that only A-level stand-up comedians could, tying it all up in a manner that is quite otherworldly — and doing all of that in rhyme quite simply shut up whoever was still out there trying to criticize the man.

I will be honest: I couldn’t make out half the nods in his performance, I had to get help. The intricacies of his bars, the minute events and quotes they are sometimes based on, show that he was not only listening to everything that was said about him — he was preparing his answer. Regardless of whether you enjoy hip-hop, this freestyle stands out as a remarkable piece of poetry and wit that resonates beyond the genre, beyond music even.

It screams genius, whether or not you’re more of a Tupac or Dre guy.