Electric Brixton live: Jay Rock (18th February)

Jay Rock has been an artist I have been following since the early 2010s, along with the whole TDE camp. He has featured quite a few massive records over the years (such as his incredible verse on Kendrick Lamar’s “Money Trees” off Kendrick’s 2012 classic Good Kid, M.A.A.D City) and has released some great albums such as 90059 and his most recent work of art Redemption. The latter is among my favourite major hip-hop releases of 2018, and I was super excited to be invited by Brick London, a PR agency working closely with the venue, to his sold out show at Electric Brixton on the 18th February. Thanks a lot to them, as this was quite the experience.

I have been to other TDE shows in my life, including seeing Kendrick twice and ScHoolboy Q once. Jay Rock’s energy and dynamism was something I have experienced before, but what completely drew me to him was his confidence and champion-like attitude on stage. I was among the crowd, jumping around, occasionally getting involved with the many moshpits throughout the show. He commanded the stage, with every song he told a story and he brought such a vibe to every track. Tracks from Redemption stole the show throughout, with “The Bloodiest,” “For What It’s Worth,” “ES Tales,” “Rotation 112th,” “Tap Out” and “OSOM” featured within the setlist. The biggest tracks, as expected were “King’s Dead,” with that now infamous Future verse, “Wow Freestyle,” and “WIN.” He performed the last track twice before triumphantly saying bye to everyone who came to support.

He also performed “Vice City” from 90059, which was incredible to hear. The one gripe I have is that he didn’t perform more records off that album, because it really was a phenomenal project with many highlights. Redemption is an album for arenas though, and the heavy bass throughout the show. It was an experience, as I saw him own the stage in the most exciting way possible.

Listen to Jay Rock’s Redemption below via Spotify, and if you’ve got tickets for his remaining shows in the UK and Ireland, you’re in for a treat!