Jay Rock has suggested that a Black Hippy reunion is on the horizon, and fans couldn’t be more excited about the prospect.
During an interview with the Associated Press, which dropped on Saturday (December 23), the Los Angeles rapper suggested that he’d love to join forces with Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Schoolboy Q again.
“I can tell you this: I know we are doing a compilation album, you know, TDE for 20 years,” he said. “It’s been 20 years since TDE been in the game, you know what I’m saying? So, we are putting together a compilation album. So, we should be dropping that at the top of the year.”
He continued: “I don’t know how many songs we’re gonna put on there, but, the majority — we got a majority of Black Hippy on that thing, you feel me? So, make sure you check it out.”
Jay Rock teases Black Hippy reunion ahead of new TDE compilation AP News pic.twitter.com/fta7fDthf7
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) December 24, 2023
Last month, Jay Rock had to set the record straight about rumored tensions in the TDE camp.
The chatter began circulating following Kendrick Lamar’s departure from the label in 2021
In a rare message posted to his website at the time, the Compton native informed fans that his Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers album — which arrived in May 2022 — would be his final release on the label, whom he was signed to for more than a decade.
Kendrick went on to launch his imprint, pgLang, alongside his longtime manager and creative collaborator Dave Free.
Even before K. Dot bid farewell, TDE fans were becoming frustrated by the relative inactivity of flagship stars like ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, and Isaiah Rashad, whose new albums would arrive years apart.
Scrutiny intensified this past summer when fellow signee Reason publicly called out the label for dropping the ball on his latest album Porches.
“We had certain features lined up that could’ve went through,” the rapper complained on the BACKONFIGG podcast. “We had the budget, we had the feature lined up, takes too long to get pushed through, feature price ended up going up or something goes away. Content ideas lined up, not executed. Rollout ideas lined up, not executed.
“It was a few different things. I had Latto lined up for something, not executed. I had EST Gee lined up, not executed. Like, us not pushing through. Features lined up, we got a price set, video and verse for the love, takes too long.”
This led to a tense back and forth between Reason and TDE co-president Anthony “Moosa” Tiffith, who disparaged his artist by calling him a “substitute teacher,” among other things.
But during an interview with DJ Whoo Kid, Jay Rock was quizzed about the rumors of trouble in the West Coast label’s camp, and he immediately put the kibosh on any alleged tensions.
Jay Rock Announces His Return With First New Music In 5 Years: ‘The Wait Is Ova’
“People love starting rumors and spreading all type of, you know… I call it bad ink,” he replied. “Sometimes people like to write in bad ink, you feel me? Especially on blog sites and different internet things.
“But we all good, though. The family, TDE family, despite what everybody’s saying — the breakup — everybody’s all good.”
Jay Rock also addressed his relationship with Kendrick Lamar, saying: “That’s my little brother. I hollered at him the other day. That’s still bro. Ain’t nothing changed.”
