Jamil “Mal” Clay claims Drake is who first informed him of the explosive lyrical content of Jay-Z’s Roots Picnic freestyle this weekend.
In a recent episode of his and Rory Farrell’s New Rory & MAL podcast, available on Netflix, Mal recalled being in a largely phone-averse mindset while he instead took in a Spurs game.
“The funny shit about all of this is Drake is the one that told me about this freestyle, because I was watching the Spurs game,” he said. “I wasn’t online. Game 7 was on. The Knicks was waiting. I’m trying to see who the Knicks gon’ get so I’m not even paying attention to my phone, nothing. So I think it was halftime or something, so I look at my phone, and I see texts from Drake.”
As is certainly common knowledge by now, HOV had a lot to say in his freestyle, including some bars aimed at Drake. While the Iceman artist wasn’t explicitly mentioned by name, the target of key lines was immediately clear.
“I don’t know what’s happening so everything that we’re talking about, I don’t even know what was said,” Mal said of his subsequent back-and-forth text exchange with Drake. “So he was picking out certain things that he said, but the one thing that Drake said was like, ‘Yo, but what’s up with the hair?’ Now mind you, I haven’t seen a picture.”
At this point, Rory chimed in to joke that “they’re gonna kill Drake for that” before Mal continued.
“No, but ‘what’s up with the hair?’ is what everybody was saying,” Mal said. “Like, everybody was shocked. … We’ve never seen Jay with an afro.”
In case you somehow missed HOV’s set this weekend, we’ve got you. See here for a breakdown of all the disses in his much-discussed freestyle, then check out our rundown of seven takeaways from the full performance.
