Jay-Z has been making some pointed remarks about Nicki Minaj, particularly regarding her recent alignment with the political movement known as MAGA. The iconic rapper, who is 56 years old, made a rare solo appearance at the Roots Picnic music festival in Philadelphia on Saturday. During this performance, he introduced new songs that seemed to take aim at former collaborators, including the “Anaconda” artist herself.
In his lyrics, Jay-Z criticized Minaj for associating with President Donald Trump and Republican figures like Erika Kirk. He also referenced the rape allegations against her husband, Kenneth Petty, who was convicted of attempted rape in 1995 after attacking a 16-year-old girl.
One of the lines he performed included: “That lady back on the stuff, she sound like she in love with him/ Her Ken can’t even pick they kids, enough of them.” He continued with another verse: “A rapper can’t be my opp, I got MAGA Republicans/ Them shots came from the very top of the government, good luck with them/ I’m governed by God, you tried to break the covenant.”
After delivering these lines, Jay-Z invited Minaj’s ex, Meek Mill, to perform “Dreams and Nightmares” alongside him. In addition to Minaj, he also took jabs at other artists such as Ye, Drake, Tory Lanez, and his former Roc-A-Fella Records partner, Damon Dash.
Minaj, who is 43 years old, has not publicly responded to Jay-Z’s comments. She did not provide a statement when approached by The Independent.
The “Barbie Dreams” rapper’s sudden shift in political support for Trump over the past year surprised many of her fans. She appeared at a U.S. Treasury event earlier this year alongside Trump, where the president described her as “a big Trump supporter and a Trump fan” who had “taken a little heat on occasion” from her fans but remained “an unbelievable supporter.”
During the event, Minaj took the stage and called herself Trump’s “number one fan,” vowing that her support for him would not change. In an interview with Katie Miller, the wife of Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump’s immigration policies, Minaj explained her decision to back Trump in February. She said she could not stand to see him “bullied.”
“When I saw how he was being treated over and over and over, I just couldn’t handle it,” she said on The Katie Miller Podcast. “I felt that… a lot of that bullying, and the smear campaigns and all of the lying, I felt that that had been done to me for so many years.”
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