One of the most hardest and rugged emcees to ever touch a mic, Jay Rock, has one of the most distinguished voices ever in Hip-Hop history too. A voice that should be more known than it was before this year, Rock is finally starting to get his long just due.
Whether it be getting his long overdue props as an emcee or the mostly critical-acclaim for an album with, Redemption, which has long alluded him compared to his TDE/Black Hippy labelmates/crew of Kendrick Lamar, ScHoolboy Q and Ab-Soul. From his album to his hit single, WIN and fiery great opening performance at the BET Awards in his hometown of Los Angeles this Summer, 2018 has been the year of Rock.
This isn’t new to the Watts native either, as many people forget despite Lamar getting most of the credit for really putting the label/crew on the mainstream map, it was really Rock who jumpstarted things for Top Dawg Entertainment. The first artist signed to and able to release an official album on the label when he put out his very stellar yet still underappreciated debut album, Follow Me Home, back in 2011.
It’s nice to see things finally come back full circle to Rock, who also helped as a huge key part for Kendrick too. As when he first started and was still going by K-Dot, he was Rock’s hype-man in the beginning stages of TDE.
So it’s only right like the title of his album, 2018, has been a huge redemption year for the underdog favorite of the crew/label. With his current headlining, The Big Redemption Tour, which is also his first major solo tour he’s currently finishing up being another huge win for Rock and a must-see for those who are still able to catch any of the last remaining dates. Which includes the very highly-anticipated Chicago date here at Concord Music Hall this coming Sunday November 11th.