Listen I know beggars can't be choosers, but come on when is Jay Rock going to release this album. Its been close to four years since his last album, Follow Me Home, and all we've got to show for it are a number of great features and a graveyard filled with rumored release dates or news. Top Dawg Entertainment has a lot on its plate, what with the release of one of the most important albums of the past decade in To Pimp A Butterfly, and then their entire stable of incredible artists. However, enough is enough. After hearing "Money Trees Deuce," I am now demanding that Jay Rock's LP be put on iTunes immediately or else.
"Money Trees Deuce" is the sequel to Kendrick Lamar's "Money Trees" off of his debut album, Good Kid…Maad City, which featured Jay Rock. On the original, Rock managed to outshine the K.dot, delivering one of his most memorable verses to date. "Deuce" is much slower and more subdued, but the same fire and gangsta vibe remain.
Flippa and J Proof produced a beautifully cinematic beat; it doesn't rely on 808's or snappy snares, yet it still bumps, while creating this sense of anguish and longing. Whatever these two might have missed, Jay Rock handles in spades. He weaves the tale of a young male growing up in the ghetto, whose only possessions are poverty and the thirst for better, by any means. It is a dark story, but one that is clearly close to his heart. "Money Trees Deuce" is autobiographical in the way that made many fall in love with hip-hop in the first place: Rock isn't glorifying the violence, drugs, and womanizing, he is just reporting what he sees and feels from the front lines.
As I previously stated, there isn't much to say about Jay Rock's album; other than that it needs to come as soon as possible. "Money Trees Deuce" shows he hasn't lost his step at all, but is definitely progressing. Whenever it comes out (hopefully tonight *wink wink*), I can tell, we won't be disappointed.
