The Roc-A-Fella co-founder said he was “embarrassed” for his former friend.
By Jaelani Turner-Williams
June 2, 2026
Images via The Art of Dialogue and MEGA/GC Images
Dame Dash has responded to Jay-Z after catching strays in the rapper’s Roots Picnic freestyle over the weekend, claiming that he didn’t even hear Jay-Z’s diss because he was distracted by Hov’s picked-out afro.
Dame, who co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records with the 25-time Grammy winner, was interviewed by The Art of Dialogue in a YouTube video posted on Tuesday (June 2).
The music executive said Jay-Z must have gone “broke” because he hasn’t “said anything [in] 20 years.”
“It was whack. It was like a joke but it was a old joke. He used my lyrics,” Dame said, adding that he wanted to see a “clever” version of Jay-Z instead.
In the freestyle, Hov joked about Dame’s dental implants “tumbling” out of his mouth, referencing a 2024 video.
“And I felt bad because I was like, it must be embarrassing for him to now have to be on that stage, not the same version of himself, and still have to work at that age ’cause he has to,” Dame continued.
He also said the reason Jay-Z rapped at all was because of him.
“We don’t have direct conversation, but I do feel like if I’m not around, he’s not relevant. I feel like that’s the reason why they have to bring my name up all the time,” he said. “I thought that rap was bad. It was terrible.”
In his response, Dame jokingly claimed that he “couldn’t hear the lyrics” because Jay’s “hairstyle was crazy.”
“I was like, ‘Why would they let him come outside like that?'” Dame said and later added, “Why do they keep putting you in these funny hairstyles?”
Before debuting his ‘fro at Roots Picnic, Jay-Z wore freeform dreadlocks, or what some would consider to be wicks, for nearly a decade.
Dame recommended that his former friend rock a Caesar haircut beneath a New York Yankees baseball cap during his three-night residency at Yankee Stadium in July.
Elsewhere, Dame predicted that Drake, who was also purportedly dissed in Jay-Z’s freestyle, could “beat” the 4:44 artist.
