Wednesday marked a notable moment in Jay Rock's career as he finally landed on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time ever thanks to "King's Dead," the latest release from the TDE-curated Black Panther soundtrack.
The track—which also features Future, James Blake, and labelmate Kendrick Lamar—made its debut at No. 91. Billboard points out that "King's Dead" is Lamar's 41st Hot 100 entry, Future's 67th and Blake's second (but his first as a lead artist). "King's Dead" also debuted at No. 36 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, accumulating 6.9 million U.S. streams and selling 8,000 downloads in the tracking week, according to Nielsen Music. The last time Jay Rock appeared on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart was back in 2012, when Lamar's "Money Trees" debuted and peaked at No. 35.
"King's Dead" caught rap fans' attention not only because it's a Black Panther cut, but also for its possible shots at Big Sean. From Jay Rock saying "lil bitch" to spitting "I ain't gon’ hold you, I ain't gon’ press you, never control you / I ain't gon’ front you, keep it 100, I don't know you,"theories circulated about the alleged sneak diss. "King's Dead" also serves as the lead single of Jay Rock's upcoming album and maybe the beginning of more Hot 100 entries after over a decade in the game.
