REVIEW: Jay Rock - Redemption
After 3 years since 90059, Jay Rock has finally released his new album Redemption. The wait has been long, but understandable due to Jay Rock being in a terrible motorcycle accident in 2016. Since then, there has been a lot of winning being done on his TDE team. The success in the air rubbed off on him, which sparked this phenomenal effort from him on this album.
On Redemption, he features selected hit makers like Kendrick Lamar, SZA, and J. Cole and Future.
He begins the album with “The Bloodiest” which has a heavy, bass-hitting production. In the second verse of “For What It’s Worth,” he compares the “power of pussy” to money as he describes a woman who tried to trap him in a relationship to get his money and tap into some fame.
On “OSOM” (Out of sight out of mind), Jay Rock describes the kind of people who switch up when things get bad—the type of people who show fake love. With fame and money, life could be like a fairytale but "fairytales don’t end well when the fame and fortune not here.” Cole’s discography is filled with stories about fakes and snakes which makes it easy for J. Cole to contribute to the theme of this song. Jay Rock wraps up this song with a powerful metaphor-packed verse.
Kendrick Lamar’s ad-libs on “King’s Dead” continues to echo even after the song comes to an end. Future’s vocalisation of “La di da di da, slob on me knob” will always be an exciting moment whenever this song comes up. With the production of this hit song handled by Teddy Walton and Mike Will Made-it, “King’s dead” remains one of the outstanding tracks on this album.
There are so many attention grabbing beats on this album. From the adrenaline rush that comes with songs like “King’s Dead,” and “WIN” to more down tempo tracks like “Knock It Off” and “For What It’s Worth,” the high quality production remains a consistent element. Being in sync with other artists isn’t always easy, but with the guest artists on this album, it seems Jay Rock knew the perfect team to work with. Kendrick’s ad-libs on “WIN” and the lyrical flames that he spit on “Wow Freestyle” is an example of the the chemistry between Jay Rock and the featured artists on this project.
https://open.spotify.com/album/6PpxiZQQonnX3aS52Ayr9A?si=NzzsvpZLQHiIWGQN9HVx0g