Album Review: Jay Rock- "Follow Me Home"

I profess that I don't know much about Jay Rock. I didn't even know that he was from Cali until I consulted Wikipedia just now. What I do know about him is that he dropped the Cool & Dre produced single/Weezy feature "All My Life" in 2008 a la Saigon, but I still bump that shit from time to time. The next leak from this album, "Hood Gone Love It", is almost as good and cracked my top 10 from the first half of the year. Does the rest of his debut album match the quality of the first two singles or does it all go downhill from there?

1. Intro

Jay Rock is interviewed about a drive-by and welcomes us to “Guttaville”.

2. Code Red

Sort of a continuation from the intro, this one is about how real shit gets in Watts, naturally over an imitation Dre beat. Jay even brings in a guy that sounds like Snoop Dogg to do the chorus.

3. Bout That

More tough guy gangsta raps, except this one is more of a mess musically than the last song. This sounds like a throwaway from a Game tape.

4. No Joke (Feat. Ab-Soul)

At this point its clear that Jay Rock isn’t gonna do anything that hasn’t been done before, based on all of the interchangeable verses about the hood so far. Not necessarily a bad thing, since that’s clearly what he’s best at. I like this track to the first two thanks to the chopped up piano sample though I could do without Ab-Soul on the hook.

5. Hood Gone Love It (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)

I talked about this track in my intro to this review and in that “Halftime” post but it bears repeating, this is great. I’m glad J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League gave this to Jay Rock now that Rick Ross only raps over different variations of the “I’m Not A Star” beat.

6. Westside (

feat. Chris Brown)

Considering this is a Breezy feature about banging hoes, I’m not mad at this. It’s not a very good song, but I hope it gets Jay Rock some airplay.

7. Elbows

Here’s another fake Dre track though this one, unlike the first, is well worse than the real thing. Jay Rock brings an extra raspy, aggressive flow that, combined with the Dre-like production, invokes a Restless-era Xzibit.

8. Boomerang

This is the least inspired moment of this album so far, which says a lot since there was already a Chris Brown, girl track.

9. All I Know Is

Some more unoriginal, West Coast gangsta rap but this time, instead of a guy that sounds sort of like Snoop, they got a guy that sounds sort of like Nate Dogg to do the hook. Rest in peace.

10. I'm Thuggin'

I know I said that Jay Rock’s lack of ingenuity wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but at this point it’s almost embarrassing. I mean the hook on this is him repeating “Bitch, I’m Thuggin’”. Come on now.

11. Kill or Be Killed

Tech N9ne, who I’ve never been able to get into, lends a guest verse on a song about shooting people. For what it’s worth, Jay’s verse describing a dude getting rushed off to the hospital and shit might be his best lyricism so far.

12. Just Like Me (Feat. J.Black)

A somber track about the ugly side of ghetto living, basically the opposite of “Hood Gone Love It”.

13. Say Wassup (Feat. Ab-Soul, Kendrick Lamar, & Schoolboy Q)

Jay Rock brings in the rest of “Black Hippy” for this the best song in some time. Even though the gangbang shit might be in Jay Rock’s element, the best songs on here are the ones that are the least gangsta sounding, but that might just be my personal preference.

14. They Be On It

Jay spits braggadocio raps about cars and bitches and whatnot. This is alright but I wouldn’t care if I never heard this again.

15. M.O.N.E.Y.

This is a lot like the last song that this guy J. Black sang on. I get the sense that every time Jay Rock feels like he has something really serious to rap about he calls up J. Black, finds a dark piano beat, and hits the booth.

16. Finest Hour (Feat. Rick Ross & BJ The Chicago Kid)

This J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League track sounds like some of the beats they’ve done for Rick Ross in the past, so it’s no surprise to find Rozay on here. I think if they handled all the production on this album it would be an entirely different story.

17. Life's A Gamble

Here’s another dark piano beat, probably the best yet. I think I’ve heard this one before and there was a video for it if I’m not mistaken. This is pretty chill but not really anything special.

18. All My Life (Feat. Lil' Wayne)

This song is still terrific but it’s old news. They might as well have put "California Soul" on here too. I mean if you haven’t heard this by now then definitely go do that.

Comments:

Eh. This album had its moments, but also had lots of filler, which I guess is to be expected since there were 18 songs on there. Like I said, with better production value I think Jay Rock could put out something much better, as evidenced by the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and Cool & Dre tracks.

Best Songs: "Hood Gone Love It", "All My Life"

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