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Jay-Z’s “What’s Free” Verse Talks Kanye, Trump, Black Oppression

Meek Mill‘s newly released album Championships is currently shaking the f***ing table on Twitter right now. There are SO many well-crafted songs and powerful introspective bars that it’s hard to pick a favorite at this point. But one thing is for sure, that Jay-Z verse on foreboding “What’s Free” is one for the ages and Shawn Corey Carter doesn’t mince any words.

Right out the gate, Jay runs down some Black excellence numbers that don’t lie:

In the land of the free, where the blacks enslaved
Three-fifth’s of a man I believe’s the phrase
I’m 50% of D’usse and it’s debt free (Yeah)
100% of Ace of Spades, worth half a B (Uh)
Roc Nation, half of that, that’s my piece
Hunnid percent of Tidal to bust it up with my G’s, uh

Next, he addressed what is being called a “diss” by a lot of less-informed outlets, Kanye West:

No red hat, don’t Michael and Prince me and Ye
They separate you when you got Michael and Prince’s DNA, uh
I ain’t one of these house ni**as you bought

Hard to find where the “diss” is here. To us it sounds more like he’s saying “Despite the fact that Kanye is on some bulls#!t, I’m not going to rip him publicly for you all’s amusement and entertainment, he’s an icon (and friend?) and I won’t disrespect him despite his loathsome behavior.”

Jay spends the rest of his verse putting on a clinic of thought-provoking wordplay and stone cold truths that will make you wonder how a soon-to-be 49-year-old husband and father of 3 is still rapping this well.