Jay Rock was awarded the key to his home neighborhood of Watts by the City of Los Angeles and 15th District Councilmember Joe Buscaino on Friday (May 24).
The ceremony took place in Nickerson Gardens at the Recreation Center Basketball Courts near his childhood home as labelmates and fellow Los Angeles natives ScHoolboy Q and Ab-Soul looked on.
“WHen u stay down tHis type of sHit Happens.. love u fool,” Q wrote in a congratulatory Instagram post on Thursday (May 23).
To make the event more memorable, Rock partnered with Lyft and TDE to donate $5,000 to the local Nickerson Garden Community Center.
“This right here, man, is a blessing,” he told TMZ. “I’ve been able to win a Grammy and then to come back and get the key to the city of Watts.”
Rock also shouted out Nipsey Hussle and addressed YG’s claims over people showing “fake-ass” love for the late rapper.
“It’s that stigma … people like to come support when somebody’s gone, people wanna show all the love, but they didn’t wanna show the love when he was here,” he said. “[Nipsey is] my brother. We went to the same middle school together.”
Earlier this year, Rock tied for Best Rap Performance at The Grammy’s for his Kendrick Lamar-collaborated single, “King’s Dead,” off the Black Panther soundtrack.
5k ? What a joke so when somebody kills him people will say he was good to the community
What did U donate???
Actually, I donated 2k to St. Nudes Hospital last year after they saved my daughters life! And my networth is a tiny fraction of Jay Rocks. I also donate time to my town and city, and am a volenteer firemen.
Meant to say St Judes, not nudes obviously haha. I just wish Jay Rock didn’t sell out and make a pop album like Q did too now. Redemption was TRASH. Follow me home and 90059 are great albums. Redemption is completely and utter sellput radio junk.