The key highlight of the 2026 Roots Picnic In Philadelphia this past weekend was Jay-Z’s freestyle which had blistering attacks directed at Drake, Dame Dash and others. That didn’t sit well with their fans, particularly media personality Akademiks.
In the freestyle, Jay-Z also took aim at Nicki Minaj, who has been consistently insulting the Hip-Hop icon and his wife, R&B superstar Beyonce: “That lady back on that stuff, she sounds like she’s in love with ’em. Her Ken can’t even… pick they kid… enough of them. A rapper can’t be my opp, I got MAGA Republicans.”
In a show hosted by Akademiks on the Kick streaming platform, Akademiks showed a photo of Jay-Z and Beyoncé along with Roc Nation President Desiree Perez at a table with Ivanka Trump and her husband, White House adviser Jared Kushner. “They’re eating – breaking bread with these people, they’re getting pardons,” he began while showing Google searches of President Donald Trump’s eldest daughter and son-in-law.
Akademiks referred to Perez receiving a federal pardon from Trump as he left office in his first term in 2021 along with her husband Juan Perez. “How you eatin’ dinner with your opps?!” Akademiks yelled, adding “And they got Charlemagne Tha God and the rest of these media n—-as out there saying Drake is MAGA. How does that work?!!!”
The photo is accurate – it was taken from The REFORM Alliance’s Inaugural Casino Night event held at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 30, 2023. The gala, which also featured guests and performers including Kim Kardashian and Meek Mill (who serves on the REFORM Alliance board of directors with Perez), was benefitting the organization dedicated to changing the prison parole system.
There were some commenters on X, formerly Twitter siding with Akademiks, claiming Jay-Z was a “fake Black activist”. But there were many more blasting the media personality for his attempt to paint Jay-Z as a hypocrite, mainly because of his rabid support for Drake as well as his own association with the Trumps.
