Jay Rock: The Kal Banx-assisted 'Eastside' music video really goes down in Watts

West Coast rapper Jay Rock isn't slowing down - at all. Fresh from putting out his ‘Eastside’ single to the masses, the Top Dawg Entertainment head honcho pulls through with his new music video.

It’s drama. It’s fun. It’s non-stop cinematic action. Tap in.

Grammy Award-Winning artist, Jay Rock unveils the visual for “Eastside,” his first solo single in five years. The single, produced by TDE labelmate Kal Banx, is accompanied by a raw video that captures the visceral energy of Jay Rock’s neighborhood in Los Angeles.  

“Hood tat on me permanent,” Jay Rock raps early in “Eastside”—a fitting reflection of the deep-seated determination that courses through the single. In the visual—which is viewed through the lens of a documentary gone wrong and is constantly prodding the viewer to consider their position as a spectator by foregrounding the cameras, production logistics, and constantly recording cell phones of passersby—fistfights and even a shootout are staged with an eerie naturalism.

“Eastside” marks Jay Rock’s first solo release in the half-decade span since Redemption, the 2018 album that confirmed his status as one of the sharpest observers and most uncompromising storytellers to emerge from California in his generation. Songs from the album earned him three of his four Grammy nominations: Best Rap Song for both “Win” and his Kendrick Lamar, Future, and James Blake collaboration “King’s Dead,” which took home the trophy in the Best Rap Performance category and has garnered over 2.5 billion global streams and counting. “King’s Dead” was also featured on Black Panther: The Album, the widely acclaimed soundtrack to the 2018 box office hit Black Panther.

Prior to 2018, Jay Rock’s status was already unquestionable in the West. More than a decade before then, he signed a major label deal and scored a hit with the Lil Wayne- and will.i.am-assisted “All My Life (In the Ghetto).” He then landed on XXL’s coveted Freshman cover and helped spearhead TDE’s takeover of the hip-hop world. His first two albums, 2011’s Follow Me Home and 2015’s 90059, each rank among the grittiest, most deeply considered street rap albums of the century so far.

With new music on the horizon, Jay Rock aims to further cement his already considerable legacy.