Jay-Z took shots at his former business partner in a recent freestyle.

Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Dame Dash hits back at Jay-Z after Roots Picnic diss: ‘Embarrassing for him’

Jay-Z took shots at his former business partner in a recent freestyle.

By Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence is a former associate editor at **. He left EW in 2022.

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June 2, 2026 7:30 p.m. ET

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Dame Dash; Jay-Z. Credit:

Paras Griffin/Getty; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

- Jay-Z recently dissed Dame Dash in a freestyle.

- Dash responded by saying he was "embarrassed" for his Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder.

- Dash also criticized Jay-Z's new hairstyle.

Dame Dash ran to throw shots back at his former business partner Jay-Z.

At Saturday's Roots Picnic in Philadelphia, Jay-Z delivered a rare solo performance, and used the occasion to diss a long list of people from his past, including Ye, Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Dash, who founded Roc-A-Fella Records and Rocawear clothing alongside the rapper.

Jay-Z and Dash fell out over 20 years ago, and Dash hasn't been shy in speaking about Jay-Z, and perhaps that's why Jay-Z used a Roots Festival freestyle to joke about Dash's teeth and declare "that chatty patty is down on his luck again."

"If I'm not around, he's not relevant," Dash said in a new interview with The Art of Dialogue. "I feel like that's the reason why they have to bring my name up all the time. I thought that rap was terrible."

Dame Dash and Jay-Z.

Ray Mickshaw/WireImage

Dash and Jay-Z started their careers together, with Dash serving as manager and producer. But Jay-Z was talking about retiring from rap after his debut album, 1996's* Reasonable Doubt*, and then actually temporarily did so after 2003's *The Black Album*, only to return three years later. Dash suggests that he pities his old friend for still stepping to the mic at 56 years old.

"I would prefer the version of Jay that would have said something more clever, and that's not the version ofJay that I would have ever signed," Dash said of the Saturday performance. "And I felt bad because 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. So that was the brother in me, like, damn. He was was retiring since Reasonable Doubt, and for him to have to come outside 20 years later, I just felt kind of embarrassed."

Jay-Z and Dash's professional relationship ended in 2004 when Def Jam Recordings purchased Roc-A-Fella and Jay-Z signed on to be president of Def Jam. In the years since, Dash has been openly critical of Jay-Z, all while he battles his own criminal and financial issues, including filing for bankruptcy last year.

Jay-Z tears into Ye, Nicki Minaj, and Drake during scathing freestyle at Roots Picnic

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In addition to critiquing Jay-Z's lyrical prowess at the Roots Picnic, Dash dissed the unveiling of the rapper's "crazy" new afro.

"I was like, why would they let him come outside like that? To me, that shit is funny," Dash said. "We don't want to see this version of you. I know I don't. That version of the Roc was painful and hard to look at."

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