Jay Rock is known for being the most obviously hood, hard and blooded member of Black Hippy. What often gets overlooked is the nuance behind his persona and the lyricism that holds up against Kendrick at his best ("I gotta go get it, I gotta go get it, I gotta go get it, I gotta go get it" off "King's Dead" is still one of the best lyrics of the year). Luckily, he has Dave Free (of the Little Homies) and Jack Begert directing a video that may help him get the recognition he deserves.
In his new video for "ES Tales," Jay Rock puts a spin on the usual talk of dope dealing and rap, both known as "the game," by casting some characters in the video as pixelated avatars rather than live-action people. Everything from cops to bloods chilling on a stoop, to a woman he drives by (slow), turn into Mario-like avatars. The video ends with Jay Rock himself, slowly turning into one of these two-dimensional pixel people. It evokes well the feeling when, upon having a moment of realizing that "the game" is something with pre-set rules, you start to see the fatal and fatalistic marks of the preordained world in everything.
Watch the video above and check out our review of Jay Rock's recent album, Redemption.