Jay Rock heaps Kendrick Lamar in praise for ‘GNX’
The West Coast has had somewhat of a revival, and, as a result of Kendrick Lamar‘s win over Drake, California has become more invigorated. The most obvious example of this phenomenon is Top Dawg Entertainment, which has seen an unfathomable amount of success in 2024.
The record label, which is home to Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, ScHoolboy Q and Jay Rock, to name just a few, is one of the West Coast’s most prolific labels and has produced exceptional music over the years.
That said, Black Hippy member Jay Rock recently reacted to the new Kendrick Lamar album, GNX, and revealed that he had no idea his labelmate was even dropping a new project. On ‘The Heart Pt. 6’, the Section.80 creator reflects on the early days of his career and namedrops Jay Rock.
During an appearance on Power 106’s Brown Bag Morning Show, Jay shared his reaction to the song and the album, unveiling, “He gave it straight up, no chaser! That’s all truths right there. Everything he said in that record was truth. What’s crazy is I didn’t even know he dropped. I just went on my Twitter, and everybody kept [tagging] me, so I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ And then they sent ‘The Heart Pt. 6.'”
He continued, “At first I thought it was AI or something but then when I looked I saw bro really dropped an album so I text him, ‘You did your stuff!’ I heard it from top to bottom. It’s no skips. He did his stuff again. Shout out to my brother Kendrick, for sure. But everything he said in that record is true.”
On ‘The Heart Pt. 6′ Lamar looks back at how Jay Rock was initially set to get a record deal first and takes accountability for the lack of output from their now-defunct collective Black Hippy. On the song, he raps, “I jog my memory, knowin’ Black Hippy didn’t work ’cause of me / Creatively, I moved on with new concepts in reach/Top, remember all them sessions we would strategize / To hit the streets, then come back, record three records?”
Ab-Soul also responded to his name getting mentioned on the track, and, during an Instagram Live earlier this month, stated, “I’m very honoured. That’s my brother in real life,” he said. “I’d take a bullet for cuz. Aside from that, I guarantee you he didn’t study me as much as I studied him. He taught me the most, as a professional recording artist. I just wanna make that very clear. We really slept on the floor for this shit, all of us. Dot, [Jay] Rock, [ScHoolboy] Q, Sounwave.”
GNX was well-received by fans. Still, many paid more attention to Lamar’s disses, including those towards Andrew Schulz and Drake.