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Jay Rock was arrested in Watts on Thursday (March 13), and initial reports added that he attempted to flee the scene after being stopped. While initially targeted for trespassing in his neighborhood, the Grammy Ward-winning rapper was then booked on a felony gun possession charge.
Jay Rock, who hails from Watts’ Nickerson Gardens public housing complex, was pulled over for trespassing, according to a report from local outlet KABC. When Jay Rock, real name Johnny Reed, inquired as to why he was being detained, reports state that he fled the scene, which is when police discovered the weapon. Other reports add that Reed, 39, was also pinged for drinking in public.
Based on what we could determine from online reports, Jay Rock is the longest-tenured act on Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). He and label boss Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffifth are natives of Watts and were both born and raised in Nickerson Gardens. Rock’s last album, Redemption, was released in 2018. He is currently prepping his fourth studio album, Eastside Johnny, slated for release this year.
A court date connected to the arrest has not been announced.
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Photo: Amy Sussman / Getty
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Kendrick Lamar may have released his last album on TDE with Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, but the label isn’t going to be deterred from continuing to give the streets what they want. TDE’s top dog, no pun intended, teasing a new project that’s been raising many eyebrows as it may involve K. Dot.
Over the weekend, Top Dawg Entertainment founder, Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith was fielding questions from fans on Twitter. When someone asked whether we’d get a new Black Hippy song, Tiffith not only said there’s a chance of a new song but suggested an entire project may be forthcoming. “I think they will… they owe y’all an album or EP,” he tweeted.
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Featuring the label’s heavy hitters of Kendrick Lamar, ScHoolboy Q, Jay Rock, and Ab-Soul, Black Hippy’s pleased fans over the years with a few songs under their belt. But they never actually dropped an entire project together. With each artist experiencing solo success and focusing on their own careers, they probably haven’t had time to get together and hammer out an entire record together.
While we await word on a potential Black Hippy project, Tiffith does have a slate of projects planned to release throughout 2023. Jay Rock, Reason, and Q amongst others should have new work out in these streets if they “do their part.”
That’s good and all, but we want a Black Hippy album above everything else now that it seems like an actual possibility. In an interview with MIC back in 2022, TDE President Terrence “Punch” Henderson explained why a Black Hippy album never happened.
“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,” Henderson said.
Hopefully, for the sake of their fans, Black Hippy can carve out some time to create something special that’ll live in Hip-Hop lore forever. We might’ve never gotten a Murder Inc. album (Jay-Z, Ja Rule & DMX), but maybe we can get a Black Hippy album in our lifetime when it’s all said and done.
Do y’all think Black Hippy should make an album or EP happen? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Photo: Getty
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