Top Dawg is for the kids. For the past 12ish years (give or take a pandemic shutdown), TDE, the South Los Angeles-based label that homes music from rap stars like Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q, R&B queen SZA, and breakout artist of 2024, Doechii, has held a holiday concert at the Nickerson Gardens housing project in Watts for the community. Top Dawg has announced the date for this year’s iteration (December 12), which will feature the above-mentioned artists, along with fellow TDE signees Isaiah Rashad, Jay Rock, Kal Banx, Ray Vaughn, SiR, and Ray Vaughn, as well as surprise guests.
In the past, that latter category has included stars like A$AP Ferg, Big Sean, Rihanna, and Travis Scott, as well as former TDE golden boy Kendrick Lamar. The best part about the concert isn’t that it’s basically free, though; it’s that the price of admission is an unwrapped toy, which will be distributed in Nickerson Gardens (where Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith grew up) the next day. So, if you want to see a great concert, all you have to do is something nice for the community! It’s a good deal!
In addition to the performances, the event also usually includes food trucks and other activities, while the next day will be Community Giveback day, with barbering services, family holiday photos, raffles, sports activities, and of course, the toy giveaway. There’s also a job fair with onsite employment opportunities. Top Dawg is for everybody.
You can find more information about the 11th annual TDE Christmas Concert + Toy Drive below.
Kendrick Lamar concluded his sensational The Pop Out — Ken & Friends Juneteenth concert at Kia Forum in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, June 19, by welcoming all of the night’s surprise performers — the “friends” in the billing — to dance while he ran through “Not Like Us,” his masterclass Drake diss track that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, five times in a row.
Below, check out all of those surprise performers from DJ Hed, Mustard, and Kendrick Lamar’s respective sets.
Here Are All Of The Surprise Performers From Kendrick Lamar’s ‘The Pop Out’ Concert
DJ Hed
Remble (“Touchable”)
Ray Vaughn (“Problems”)
Cuzzos (“Goldmembers”)
Rucci & AzChike (“Light It Up”)
Meet The Whoops (“Meet The Whoops”)
Wallie The Sensei (“03 Flow”)
Westside Boogie (“Silent Ride”)
Zoe Osama (“Underrated”)
Kalan.FrFr & G Perico (“Right Wit It”)
Bino Rideaux (“Bozo”)
BlueBucksClan (“Walkin’ In”)
RJMrLA (“Get Rich”)
OhGeesy (“Geekaleek”)
Jason Martin (“Like Whaaat”)
Tommy The Clown
Mustard
310babii (“Soak City [Do It]”)
Blxst (“Overrated” & “Chosen”)
Ty Dolla Sign (“Paranoid”)
Dom Kennedy (“My Type Of Party” & “When I Come Around”)
Steve Lacy (“Static” & “Bad Habit”)
Tyler The Creator (“WusYaName” & “Earfquake”)
Roddy Ricch (“Racks In The Middle,” “Die Young,” “The Box,” “Ballin’”)
YG (“BPT,” “My N****,” “You Broke,” “Toot It And Boot It,” “Who Do You Love?” & “Big Bank”)
Kendrick Lamar
Jay Rock (“Money Trees,” “Win,” “King’s Dead”)
Ab-Soul (“6:16 In LA”)
Schoolboy Q (“Collard Greens” & “THat Part”)
Dr. Dre (“Still D.R.E.” & “California Love”)
Lamar staged a long-awaited Black Hippy reunion. One by one, he was joined on stage by Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, and Schoolboy Q. They performed a medley of songs, including “Money Trees,” “Win,” “King’s Dead,” “6:16 In LA,” “Collard Greens,” “That Part,” and “King Kunta.”
Black Hippy, a Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) supergroup formed in the late 2000s, never released a full group LP, though it remained a vague possibility as of March 2023.
In February 2022, Terrance Louis “Punch” Henderson discussed Black Hippy never releasing an album during an interview with Mic.
“We definitely wanted to do a Black Hippy album,” Punch said. “But it was such a learning experience for us, everything was new. The timing never really panned out. When one guy would be recording his album, another guy would be on tour. Everybody was never in the same timeframe. So we didn’t want to hold back; we wanted to keep going and just push further into their individual careers. In hindsight, I wish I would’ve pushed the Black Hippy album more. That was always my goal, personally. You would have to ask everybody individually to see if that’s what their goal was.”
The hate is real. Kendrick Lamar put on a diss record masterclass over the last seven days, with three diss tracks and a rollout that completely stomped on his opponent’s. Drake rapped incredibly well on his responses, but the momentum is with Lamar, and his former TDE label mates are celebrating. Jay Rock got on X (formerly Twitter) on May 7 to let fans know who won the battle. He also took time out to make fun of Drake fans who were trying to dig stuff up on Lamar and his camp.
Jay Rock didn’t mince words. He not only clowned Drake fans for crying about their favorite rapper losing, but he referred to the rapper by the nickname Lamar gave him on “Not Like Us.” The 6 God has been dubbed the “69 God,” at least on the West Coast. “Don’t be mad at me y’all 69 God lost,” Rock tweeted out. The Watts emcee then turned his attention to the fans who have been going through old tweets from the TDE camp. Metro Boomin underwent a similar fan investigation on X, and wound up looking pretty bad considering the questionable nature of some of his old tweets.
Jay Rock knows the Drake fans are looking for similar dirt on him and the rest of Lamar’s old label. He isn’t worried, though. “Lol old a*s tweets y’all digging up and still can’t read or comprehend,” he added. “14 year ago tweets y’all reaching for the stars lol.” This is not the first time Rock has voiced support for K. Dot during the battle. He praised his Black Hippy brother on X after the release of the first Drake diss, “Euphoria.” “Now this ain’t no AI,” he assured fans. “See I know Kdot!” He also updated fans on the score of the battle after Lamar dropped “Not Like Us.” “4-0 we already know,” he added.
A quick scroll through Jay Rock’s X timeline proves that he’s been team Dot the entire time. That being said, the rapper did delete the tweet about the “69 God” hours after posting it. It’s ironic, given that the Drake fans he alluded to are looking for messages that might get deleted. Jay Rock is also recording his new album, which is tentatively titled Eastside Johnny. A proper release date hasn’t been given, but Rock has confirmed that it will drop some time in 2024.
Top Dawg Entertainment’s packed release schedule for 2024 is officially underway, with a new album from ScHoolboy Q arriving this week. Last month, the label teased a list of artists on their roster expected to drop albums this year. In addition to ScHoolboy Q’s Blue Lips, fans can hope for new projects from the likes of SZA, Isaiah Rashad, SiR, Ab-Soul, and Doechii, as well as a TDE compilation. There is also Jay Rock, the label’s very first signee who has not released a new album in nearly six years.
Outside of ScHoolboy Q, Rock’s album is arguably the most anticipated. 2018’s Redemption marks his longest gap between releases, and expectations have continued to rise with each of the four singles that he shared throughout 2023. As TDE kicks off its stacked calendar of releases, here are 5 things we want on Jay Rock’s next album.
Based on the latest singles that Jay Rock has dropped, his next album is already sounding promising. Standards may be high, but Rock has generally been consistent in delivering quality projects. Last year, he spoke to Bootleg Kev during BET Weekend, promising an album with “no skips.” “I’m tryna do an album like my last one where you ain’t gotta skip sh*t,” he expressed. Previous projects like Redemption and 90059 featured concise tracklists with runtimes of under one hour, leaving minimal room for error. This time, we are hoping that Jay Rock’s album is true to his word, containing no skips.
Sharp Lyricism
Sharp lyricism is almost guaranteed when it comes to a Jay Rock album. Fans can rely on him for skillfully crafted bars, and so can artists. In the time since Redemption, Jay Rock contributed standout verses to songs from Lil Wayne, Vince Staples, Anderson .Paak, Isaiah Rashad, and Reason. Each of these features showed Rock’s skillset has not at all diminished. Both his guest verses and latest singles signify that we can expect some top-tier lyricism from Jay Rock.
West Coast Bangers
One can always count on Jay Rock to deliver West Coast bangers on his albums. From “Hood Gone Love It” to “Tap Out,” he always brings his neighborhood of Watts into his music. Each of the singles he has released for his upcoming album has been exciting, but the most quintessentially West Coast track of the bunch is “Too Fast (Pull Over).” The Mustard-produced track features standout verses from Anderson .Paak and Latto. On the song, the three flow over a fast-paced West Coast funk beat laced with trumpet and steel drums. Judging by that song and other singles like “Still That Way,” we’re hoping for more energetic West Coast tracks.
Jay Rock might be known for his aggressive delivery and tough bars, but some of his best lyrics are embedded within his most transparent songs. Songs like “Fly on the Wall,” “Broke +-,” and “Redemption” stand out on their respective albums as they see Rock at his most vulnerable. His projects usually balance upbeat gangsta rap songs with poetic moments of introspection, as well as plenty of storytelling. With those expectations in mind, let’s hope that Jay Rock provides some more smooth and reflective songs on his next album.
With most of the TDE roster slated to release albums this year, fans are optimistic for some of Jay Rock’s labelmates to feature on his upcoming album. More specifically, they hope for contributions from his fellow Black Hippy members, or ideally, an entire Black Hippy reunion. Jay Rock recently addressed the group’s current status on TMZ. He said that “we still doing our thing” and that every member is on good terms. However, he mentioned that “everybody’s busy” and on their own schedule in regards to doing more music. “The timing’s gotta be right,” he said.
Leaving the door open for a possible reunion, a Jay Rock album would be the perfect opportunity for Black Hippy to reconnect. Jay Rock tapped Ab-Soul for one of his album’s latest singles, “Blowfly.” While the chances of a potential reunion are unpredictable, especially with Kendrick Lamar’s departure from Top Dawg Entertainment, fans would rejoice over a Black Hippy song on Jay Rock’s next album.
TDE has long held its position as the home to one of the best artist rosters in all of hip hop. Despite Kendrick Lamar departing the label in 2022, the lineup still consists of artists such as ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, SZA, Isaiah Rashad, and many others. Unfortunately, the label has also garnered a reputation in the past few years for allegedly preventing their artists from releasing music for years at a time, prompting labels like Dreamville and Quality Control to put out a much larger and more compelling body of work. However, several posts from Top Dawg signees and label heads seem to hint that 2024 will be a massive year for the label, with several announced projects already in the works.
In late January, a leaked TDE release schedule began circulating the internet, with many fans unsure of the document’s validity. The document outlines a release order for over a dozen Top Dawg artists, all expected to land on streaming in 2024.
The fact that ScHoolboy Q will release his 6th studio album next week suggests some validity behind the leak, as he occupies the first position on the list. If this leak proves true, listeners can anticipate a SiR album shortly after Q releases Blue Lips, closely followed by Jay Rock’s next album. According to the leak, rapid subsequent album releases will follow by artists such as Doechii, Ray Vaughn, and Zacari, before SZA finally drops the long-awaited SOS deluxe album, Lana. Then, fans could expect new music from Ab-Soul and Isaiah Rashad.
Top Dawg and Punch at the Billboard Power 100 Event held at NeueHouse Hollywood on January 31, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images)
The Top Dawg 2024 roster lists several relatively new artists who have found a home on the California-based label, including Kal Banx, Devin Malik, and Lance Skiiiwalker. Most surprisingly, however, the image also suggests that the label will be dropping records from three unnamed artists, redacted in the style of a classified government form. If all goes according to plan for TDE, this would reinvigorate the label as one of the best homes for high-quality hip hop known to the music industry, rivaling historic successes from the likes of Death Row and G-Unit Records.
Jay Rock reveals TDE compilation album – celebrating 20 years of the label will release Top Of The Year. – Majority of the Black Hippy will be in the album toopic.twitter.com/DJR2kJwLtu
Despite Kendrick’s departure from the label, Jay Rock has confirmed that a compilation project celebrating 20 years of Top Dawg Entertainment is set to release in 2024, featuring “a majority of Black Hippy on that thang.” It’s still unclear if the album will be composed of previously released music in the vein of a greatest hits LP, or if the project will have numerous brand new songs on it. However, Jay Rock has specified that he and his label-mates have been hard at work on the compilation, with the album release planned for the first quarter of 2024.
For now, we’ll still have to wait and see what TDE has planned in 2024. The only album 100 percent confirmed with a release date is ScHoolboy Q’s Blue Lips, though many other projects are currently in the works at the prolific label. If Top Dawg Entertainment releases even a fraction of the albums they’ve promised for 2024, this year will certainly go down in history as the label’s greatest achievement.
Jay Rock, a prominent figure in the American hip-hop scene, has made a significant mark with his unique style and impactful lyrics. As of 2024, Jay Rock’s net worth is estimated to be around $4 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, a testament to his success and influence in the music industry. This article delves into the journey and achievements of Jay Rock, exploring the factors that have contributed to his impressive net worth.
Born on March 31, 1986, in Watts, Los Angeles, California, Jay Rock grew up in a neighborhood that profoundly influenced his music. His experiences in Watts, a place known for its challenges and vibrant culture, shaped his lyrical themes and musical style. Jay Rock’s journey into hip-hop began with his signing by Anthony Tiffith, the CEO and founder of Top Dawg Entertainment. This pivotal moment set the stage for his future successes.
Rise To Fame
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 18: Jay Rock, Ab-Soul and Isaiah Rashad. The TDE Pool Party at a private residence on July 18, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/Getty Images)
Jay Rock’s debut studio album, Follow Me Home, released in 2011, marked his arrival on the mainstream music scene. The album achieved notable success, reaching No. 10 on the US Rap chart, No. 18 on the US R&B/Hip-Hop chart, and No. 83 on the Billboard 200 chart. His follow-up album, 90059, further cemented his position in the industry. It topped the US Rap chart and secured high positions on other significant charts.
One of Jay Rock’s most successful singles, “King’s Dead” (featuring Kendrick Lamar, Future, and James Blake), was a part of the Black Panther: The Album soundtrack. This track showcased his talent and highlighted his ability to collaborate effectively with other artists. Jay Rock is also a hip-hop supergroup Black Hippy member. It includes other notable artists like Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q. His involvement in these collaborations has significantly contributed to his net worth and industry standing.
Grammy Recognition & Impact
ATLANTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 28: (L-R) Kendrick Lamar and Jay Rock attend the BET Hip Hop Awards 2013. At the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center on September 28, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
Jay’s contributions to the music industry have not gone unnoticed. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year for his work on Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city. This nomination reflects the respect and recognition he has earned from his peers and the music community.
Conclusion
LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 10: Jay Rock poses with his award at the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards. Premiere Ceremony at Microsoft Theater on February 10, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Jay Rock’s journey from the streets of Watts to becoming a millionaire artist is a story of talent, perseverance, and the power of music. His net worth reflects his hard work, dedication, and impact in the hip-hop world. Jay Rock continues to inspire and influence many with his music. His story is a testament to the possibilities of artistic expression.
Fans are looking for what music has in store for 2024. Well, guess what? According to Jay Rock, there will be a TDE compilation album. Speaking with the Associated Press, Jay Rock revealed the album will be on the way.
“It’s been 20 years since TDE been in the game. So we are putting together a compilation album, so we should be dropping that at the top of the year,” said Jay Rock. “I don’t know how many songs we’re going to put on there, but we got a majority of Black Hippy on that thing.”
Jay Rock’s career has been at a bit of a standstill since 2018. However, he is looking to return to form very soon. Over the past several months, the Cali rapper has been treating fans to some singles. But, these are not just loosies, these will be a part of his upcoming record.
There is not a ton of knowledge about his fourth studio album right now. What we do know is that is expected to drop sometime next year. In addition to that, we have the cover art and a few singles. Jay put out the first teaser to it with “Too Fast (Pull Over)” with Anderson .Paak and Latto.
Listen To “Still That Way” By Jay Rock And Bongo ByTheWay
Since then, Jay has released two more tracks, including a YouTube-exclusive freestyle. Now, he is back with a new cut from Eastside with “Still That Way.” This one features production from Bongo ByTheWay. While Jay is bringing loads of energy, the highlight is the horn-backed beat. It adds to the speaker-thumping feeling and it might be the best single from the project so far.
What are your initial thoughts on Jay Rock and Bongo ByTheWay’s brand-new single, “Still That Way?” Is this Jay’s best single from his upcoming record, Eastside Johnny*? Will this be the best album he has ever put out? We would like to hear what you have to say about all of this. With that in mind, be sure to leave all of your hottest takes in the comments section below. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest breaking news around Jay Rock, as well as all of the best song drops.
Quotable Lyrics:
Blood on my hands, ain’t no dirt on my body Whip big body (Big) Spin the block, it’ll be a real big problem (Bop) Whole lot of products (Woo) B****, that’s somethin’, you don’t know nothin’ ’bout it (No) Still that way, you n****s ain’t built that way (Nah)
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