Snap Reactions From Jay-Z’s Comeback Set With The Roots & More At Philly’s Roots Picnic 2026
“Get your umbrellas out because that’s when I brainstorm”
Jay Z was/is one of my favorite emcees of all time. I’ll cop to makin rap hands in the rearview mirror to Hov bars since the late 90s.
However, I must acknowledge that outside of hip-hop, I’ve become more & more disillusioned with Shawn Carter, i.e. the billionaire business, man.
It started with an insightful essay a dear friend sent over around 5 years ago, unpacking some of the shady Jay/NFL stuff, & other dubious moves/associations he’s been attached to… bitter pills brimming with inconvenient truths that I have not been able to unsee ever since.
That same homie hit me up in the wee hours last nite, thrilled that Hov had dropped a few Marlo Stanfield (The Wire) gems into his freestyle near the beginning of his headlining set at Roots Picnic yesterday.
Of course he did. Young Hova was always a clever master of ceremony.
Which brings me to another point of this post. In the news feeds today, all the loudest chatter about the performance is laser focused on the various disses contained in said freestyle.
Honestly, Jay is like 55+ y/o; its hella corny/juvenile to be trading barbs with Barb, Dame, Aubrey, & let alone acknowledging/engaging with Mr West whatsoever.
To respond at all is to dignify the defamatory.
Before I even tapped into this monumental live performance by two of my all time faves, I was already slightly embarassed.
Are we really most excited/impressed by the schoolyard taunts – biting, sardonic, & sharp as they most certainly were?
All that smoke obfuscates the real story- Jay Z unequivocally DESTROYED.
Ably-assisted by The Roots crew & musical director extraordinaire Adam Blackstone (a serious Philly situation, not unlike the MTV Unplugged squadron from a quarter century ago), Jay Z rediscovered his lost mojo, & delivered a searing 90min set that spanned his entire catalog/career arc, leaning into the emotional/essential joints plus a few deep cuts taboot.
After the customary Sunday morning gospel sesh (Fred Hammond & RFC for those scoring at home), I put on the Jay Roots set for my son & I to soak in on the Lord’s Day while the wifey is workin in the city.
And I simply cannot front, ya boi is absolutely flabbergasted at how insanely THOROUGH this Jigga Man/Roots band performance really was.
Frankly, I knew it was gone be ON like Donkey Kong from the surprise dress rehearsal set in a Philly club the nite before. The vibe was confidently lethal & they only touched the tip of the iceberg
Real talk, i expected the Greatest Hits legacy set; had no idear they were gonna flip EVERYTHING so ill, from long lost Magna Carter heaters to opulent BP2 bangers, B-sides, La La La & beyond.
My man even swallowed pride & dialed up half of State Prop for a nostalgic trip down memory blvd pushin’ the Wayback Maybach (see what I did there, Hov got me on my pen early on a Sundee).
Somehow dude still RAISED the bar. I mean, Bilal on No Church?!?! Jazmin Sullivan on Feelin It…In PHILLY!!?!?!
37 songs in 90 minutes, with atleast a dozen other nuggets/references buried like Easter eggs.
No 2 ways about it, Jay came, he saw, he f*ckng CONQUERED.
Of course they did tha dayum thang proper. We talm’bout Adam Blackstone, Questlove, & S.Dot Carter at the helm, nothing less than unquestionable EXCELLENCE would have been tolerated/accepted.
Bottom line, this is another situation where we must separate the art from the artist, & look at these rappers as pro wrasslin’ characters/caricatures.
Because there is no such thing as an ethical billionaire, but it’s also okay to throw the diamond in the sky & keep ya hands high, shake your head at Same Ol’ Shawn in total awe, & just admit it: Jay-Z ya still too much for me!
words: B.Getz
“Old heads taught me, yung’un, walk softly”
PS. I was cool w damn dear a decade of Jay’s Basquait cosplay, but the jury still out on the new BONE Thugs & Hova afro look debuted last nite.
Mark my words, Jay will be back to the classic Hovito caesar cut for those Yankee Stadium album anniversary shows later this summer.