Dame Dash Says Jay-Z’s Roots Picnic Freestyle Was “Terrible”

Jay-Z had Hip-Hop buzzing over the weekend after headlining The Roots Picnic. To nobody’s surprise, Dame Dash has weighed in on the set and the freestyle that had fans talking.

As spotted on Complex, Dame shared his thoughts during a recent sit-down with The Art of Dialogue, and let’s just say he was not exactly giving Hov a standing ovation. When asked about Jay-Z mentioning him during the freestyle, Dame dismissed the bars and said he expected more from the Brooklyn rapper.

“I thought that rap was bad. It was terrible,” Dame said. Jay-Z used part of his Roots Picnic freestyle to take aim at several people who have had his name in their mouths, including his former Roc-A-Fella partner. One of the lines fans immediately connected to Dame found Hov joking about his teeth while also calling him “down on his luck again.”

For anyone who has followed their history, the shot did not come out of nowhere. Jay-Z and Dame Dash helped build Roc-A-Fella Records together alongside Kareem “Biggs” Burke, but their relationship famously fell apart after years of success, business disagreements, and the eventual split of the label. Since then, Dame has had plenty to say about Jay publicly, so Hov apparently decided to use the Roots Picnic stage to return some of that energy.

Dame was not only focused on the lyrics, either. He also had jokes about Jay-Z’s hair during the performance. “I was like, ‘why would they let him come outside like that? Why do they keep putting you in these funny hairstyles?” he asked.

Dash also suggested that the version of Jay-Z he remembers would have come with something sharper, saying the freestyle sounded beneath the rapper he once knew. In Dame’s eyes, the bars were not clever enough for someone with Hov’s reputation.

Of course, the internet had plenty to say as well. Some fans thought Jay-Z’s freestyle was a reminder of why he is still one of the best to ever do it, while others were more focused on the names he decided to mention during the set. Either way, Jay-Z’s Roots Picnic performance has kept the timeline busy, and now Dame Dash has officially added his response to the conversation.

You can see Dame discuss Jay-Z’s Roots Picnic freestyle below.