Jay Rock - 90059 (Album Review)

Jay Rock's debut album, Follow Me Home, dropped way back in 2011 and at the time generated some good buzz for him. That success paired with his involvement with rap collective Black Hippy (a popular collective that includes notable artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Schoolboy Q) made 2011 a good year for Rock. However, at the same time Follow Me Home didn't catapult him to the forefront of the collective or mainstream audiences. Everything about his 2015 follow-up 90059 suggested that the rapper was set to make a much bigger mark and possibly become more of a mainstream name. The singles were stronger and the buzz was really building.

90059 is pretty much a massive improvement on everything Jay Rock has been doing up to this point. While I enjoyed Follow Me Home he really finds his voice and an interesting take on his rapping ability on 90059. His ability finds him mixing it up quite a bit and at times drawing from various influences, one of which seems to be Ol' Dirty Bastard, as well as more similar but still more dynamic take on the style of his debut album. At eleven tracks long the project is all quality. Rock's ability to pick beats coupled with his style delivery make 90059 a must hear hip hop album of the year. The first song on the album "Necessary" sets the album up nicely. It also introduces the listener to the "new" Jay Rock. "Vice City" features the Black Hippy collective and finds all the artists jumping on a really interesting beat and delivering solid performances. Title track "90059" shows Jay Rock using what can only be described as heavily ODB influenced lyrical delivery and Rock pulls it off with a ton of interesting swagger. It instantly stood out on first listen.

After a long four year wait between albums it seems like it was pretty worth it as Jay Rock has delivered not only his best album, but one of the years better hip hop albums. The lyrics are nicely written and rhymed, the beat choices are on point, and the album flows nicely. If you've never been a fan of Jay Rock I highly recommend you check it out it because it may change your opinion. If you've been waiting for a long while for this album I think you should be excited. This album delivers in a big way.