Jay Rock and Kendrick Lamar went back home for the "Wow Freestyle" video. The throwback features grainy, VHS footage of Jay and K-Dot as well as Bloods riding around in color-coordinated cars. All the while, the smooth, cruising-ready track from Rock's Redemptionprovides a perfect backdrop for the retro clip.
The video kicks off with Jay asking to go back to when Top used to ride around in a red Dodge Charger. The rest of the visual obliges, with shots of streets full of friends, old rec league ballparks, and burning barrels. The rappers both lean into the backward-looking vibe, with Kendrick rapping about taking his "rich ass back home" and Jay throwing out drug-dealing bars and references to childhood toys in equal measure.
While the home movie aesthetic is cool enough, it's far from the only trick in this video. The shots of Jay driving around in a life-size Matchbox car with a Lyft bar on the dash (forever grinding) are more than worth waiting for. And the trippy use of slo-mo throughout the video as different objects move at different speeds within the same frame is a nice touch.
The whole thing has the feel of what locally shot music videos must have felt like when Kendrick and Jay were coming up, albeit with a few big-budget flourishes the TDE heroes can afford to bring with them. It's a celebration of where they're from and where they're at. Give it a watch up top.
