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Kendrick Lamar · S9 E4
Black Hippy
Jay Rock, ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, Kendrick. The group that never made a group album, and why it worked
Four rappers from the same label. Four completely different styles. They never made a group album, and that might be the smartest decision any of them ever made.
Jay Rock, WIN (official music video, 2018). One quarter of Black Hippy at his commercial peak. Jay Rock's biggest solo hit proves the group's philosophy: compete as individuals, support each other from the shadows. When one wins, they all win.
WIN, Jay Rock (2018)
From Jay Rock's Redemption. The beat is triumphant and anthemic, built for stadiums. Jay Rock's delivery is pure confidence: a man who spent a decade grinding in Kendrick's shadow finally getting his own moment in the sun. Listen for how the hook catches you on the first listen. That's the TDE formula: every member learns to make hits, not just Kendrick.
Sources
Jay Rock. "Redemption." Top Dawg Entertainment / Interscope, 2018.
“We never needed a group album. The competition between us made each solo album better. If Q drops something crazy, I have to top it. That's how it works.”
— Kendrick Lamar on Black Hippy, interview, 2014
The Crew That Never Made a Group Album
Jay Rock is the street storyteller. ScHoolboy Q is the party with a dark side. Ab-Soul is the philosopher. Kendrick is everything at once. They signed to TDE within years of each other, came up together, and instead of forming a supergroup, they pushed each other to be better solo artists.
Sources
Top Dawg Entertainment roster, 2007-2018
TAP TO REVEAL: Did Black Hippy ever record a group album?
Which of these is NOT a member of Black Hippy?
Vice City, Jay Rock ft. Black Hippy (2015)
From Jay Rock's 90059. All four Black Hippy members on one track, trading verses over a beat that sounds like a West Coast sunset. This is the closest thing to a group album the world ever got: four voices, four styles, one shared history. Kendrick's verse is predictably the sharpest, but the others hold their own.
Vice City, Jay Rock ft. Black Hippy (2015)
Read the lyrics while you listen. Each member gets a verse, and the contrast in styles is the entire point. Jay Rock is gritty and direct, Q is playful and menacing, Ab-Soul is abstract and philosophical, Kendrick is precise and cinematic. Same crew, four different languages.
Black Hippy
Black Hippy competed as individuals. But Kendrick's solo albums aren't just collections of songs. Each one is a complete world with its own rules, its own structure, and its own way of listening. Next: Concept Albums.
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