DJ Akademiks Claims Jay-Z's Diss Targets Don't Care About His Freestyle

BY Gabriel Bras Nevares
Link Copied to Clipboard!
DJ Akademiks Jay Z Diss Targets Dont Care About Freestyle
Dec 10, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Former boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr., with his daughter sit next to Blue Ivy Carter and dad Jay-Z as they attend the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
DJ Akademiks continues to blast Jay-Z's Roots Picnic freestyle, arguing Drake, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, and others aren't worried about Hov.

Jay-Z is still in the conversation thanks to his Roots Picnic set, where his freestyle dissing a slew of opponents caught some controversy. Many fans really enjoyed the whole thing and hope there's more smoke on the way, whereas others were not that impressed and find the disses meager. DJ Akademiks is firmly in the latter camp, as he doubled down on during a recent livestream.

As caught by DJ Akademiks TV on Instagram, the commentator claimed Hov's targets in the freestyle don't actually care about the disses. These include Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Kanye West, as most other targets did actually respond to the shots. Ak also suggested the general public's reception to the freestyle hasn't been exactly glowing.

"He needs another move to validate his next move," Akademiks posited. "They all look at his move as not worthy enough... He's not getting the best response. 'Not bad, he had to get his s**t off.' Nothing was like, 'Oh my God, this changes s**t.' [...] Jay was hinging on it being such a dynamite that everybody had to respond. His only response is from Oschino and also Dame Dash.

"He's not getting the Ye response... He's not even getting the Tory [Lanez] response and Tory got nothing but time," he continued. "And he definitely ain't getting a Drake response right now. You looking like a dog barking at the moon... People start questioning if your power or your voice hits the same... He wanted Nicki Minaj to start talking about his kids again, threatening him. Nicki has not responded... Perhaps your voice just isn't that thing that makes the needle move no more."

Who Responded To Jay-Z?

In addition to Dame Dash and Oschino clapping back, another response to Jay-Z came from Jaguar Wright, who was a former affiliate of The Roots. She blasted Questlove for his loyalty to the Roc Nation mogul despite Jay allegedly minimizing the career of Black Thought, and also questioned why Jay hasn't said anything about Diddy.

But as far as the blockbuster names like the Young Money alumni and Ye, there hasn't been a peep at press time. We'll see if that changes or if DJ Akademiks is right. Even then, fans will debate about what a hypothetical lack of response would even mean.

About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case. Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.

Comments 0