After a long wait, Jay Rock’s “90059” is here to cause musical bliss in earphones of hip hop heads everywhere. The second studio release from the Top Dawg Entertainment veteran is swarming with some of hip hop’s finest, including Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and Busta Rhymes. Jay Rock shares the spotlight by shining some light on up and coming rappers like Isaiah Rashad and Sir. Even SZA appears on the album, lending her serenading voice to the track Easy Bake, to complete a dope roster for “90059”.
However, despite the album’s features, Jay Rock was able to show how diverse he is by introducing an alter ego, Lance Skiiwalker, on the tracks Telegram and Money Trees Dueces. Jay Rock momentarily steps out of his comfort zone and drops some melodic hooks that you can’t stop from snapping your fingers to.
“90059” is Jay Rock’s first album in four years, which gave him a long time to develop new flows and wordplay. After giving the album a listen through, one almost feels as if they listened to a different rapper on each track. Jay’s bag of flows is deep, and this is shown on the track Vice City, featuring the rest of the Black Hippy crew. The timing and flow sound foreign to the ear at first, but it’s hard not to keep it on repeat after a few listens.
This record is not all catchy hooks and big-name artists, though. Behind the deep snares and unique flows on Vice City, the Black Hippy crew drop some knowledge on the listener. The song explains each artist’s personal vices and how it affects their lives (not surprisingly, they’re doing just fine). The topics vary from drug use, money laundering to being unfaithful. Behind all the subliminal information, it’s hard to deny that this track bumps.
The production on “90059” is quite diverse; there’s a beat for every mood. With pump up tracks like 90059 and Vice City, chill tracks like Gumbo and Money Trees Deuces, and thoughtful tracks like Telegram, it’s worth a search. And who knows? Maybe “90059” has that perfect track you’ve been waiting for to play during a midnight run or the next house party.
