Jay Rock

Jay Rock became of the biggest names in West Coast hip-hop during the 2010s, a decade that found him releasing three Top 10 rap albums and earning a Grammy Award for "King's Dead." Born as Johnny Reed McKinzie Jr. on March 31, 1985, he grew up in the housing projects of southern Los Angeles, signed with Top Dawg Entertainment in 2005, and began releasing mixtapes under the Jay Rock name in 2006. His debut single, "All My Life (In The Ghetto)," was released in 2008, featuring appearances from Lil Wayne and will.i.am. The song later appeared on his first album, 2011's Follow Me Home, which charted at Number 18 on Billboard's R&B chart and Number 10 on the Top Rap Albums chart. One year later, Jay Rock appeared on Kendrick Lamar's platinum-selling single "Money Trees." By the time his second album, 90059, was released in September 2015, Jay Rock had become a genuine star, with 90059 charting at Number 2 on the R&B chart and Number 1 on the Top Rap Albums chart. Redemption followed in 2018 and became his third Top 10 rap record. The album's lead single, "King's Dead," also appeared on the Black Panther soundtrack. Featuring contributions from Kendrick Lamar, Future, and James Blake, "King's Dead" was a crossover success in North America, charting at Number 21 on the Hot 100, Number 13 on the Hot R&B chart, and Number 23 in Canada. It eventually went multi-platinum in both the US and Canada, and won a Grammy Award in 2019 for Best Rap Performance. The following year, Jay Rock scored another hit as a featured artist on Lil Wayne's "Bing James," which peaked at Number 7 on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles.