Jay Rock has had a huge year by releasing his new album Redemption as well as having successful singles to support the project – which includes his song “ES Tales”. In addition, he’s released the visuals for the song where the main theme finds Rock in the middle of an 8-bit video game world.
The video itself is based in the projects, specifically Nickerson Gardens where Rock grew up. There are common references to the police, drugs, and things encountered in everyday life in that area. The video opens and closes with Rock laying on his bed, which shows that a majority of the video was actually a dream that he had. With that, even though he has seen a high amount of success with his career and TDE; it’s evident that his personal struggles are still existent.
“ES Tales” includes many powerful lines throughout. Most notably with “All that back and forth gets me hot sometimes / Wanna see somebody gets knocked out, just box one-time, shit / Catch a fade, catch a fade, it ain’t nothin’ / Get your head up, at the gym, bring your knuckles”. His lyrics are bold yet honest, as he forces the listener to be digging deeper into the topics and themes he reveals throughout.
