Watch Jay-Z Deliver 1st Headline Performance In 7 Years At Roots Picnic 2026

Jay-Z delivered his first full performance in several years at the Roots Picnic at Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park on Saturday. Backed by The Roots, the legendary rapper treated festivalgoers to a career-spanning, guest-filled set and also took aim at Drake, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj and others during an acapella freestyle.

The Roots Picnic headlining set featuring MTV Unplugged collaborators The Roots and Jay-Z teaming back up got underway with “Hovi Baby,” off the second iteration of The Blueprint series. Jay-Z will celebrate 2001’s The Blueprint during his upcoming, sold-out run at Yankee Stadium in his native NYC.

Jay-Z then took the spotlight for an acapella freestyle sure to stir things up in the hip-hop world. The four-minute flow saw Jay jabbing at Drake, Nicki Minaj, Tory Lanez, and Kanye West, now known as Ye. At his first concert in half a decade, Hov was settling scores but also likely setting off some high-profile beefs this summer.

Beef aside, Jay-Z treated Roots Picnic-goers to several standouts from throughout his career including “Empire State of Mind,” “Dirt Off Your Shoulders” and “Run This Town.” He also touched on his 1996 debut album Reasonable Doubt, with “Can I Live” and “Feelin’ It.” Newly stylizing his name as JAŸ-Z, Hov will also celebrate 30 years of Reasonable Doubt at Yankee Stadium in July.

The 90-minute festival set was also a guest-filled affair. Jay brought out Philadelphia favorites such as Jazmine Sullivan, Bilal and Meek Mill. The Roc Nation co-founder also welcomed longtime collaborators Beanie Sigel, Freeway, Peedi Crakk and Philly’s own Young Gunz.

The performance came to a close with a pairing of 2011’s “Ni**as In Paris” and one of his classic hits, 2000’s “Big Pimpin’,” before sealing the show with “Public Service Announcement” off 2003’s The Black Album.

Watch the full performance below via YouTube account The Frontstoop: