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While adding the finishing touches to a heavily anticipated album that boasts the likes of Lil Wayne, will.i.am, The Game, Ne-Yo and others, Nickerson Garden projects’ pride and joy, Jay Rock, substantiated his cause even more, when he was touted as a “2009 Artist to Watch” by the Los Angeles Times.

Jay Rock’s debut album, Follow Me Home, is spearheaded by the smash single, “All My Life.”

The track, featuring Wayne and will.i.am, has already garnered national attention and in the process, gained regular rotation on both MTV and BET networks.

Signed to Warner Brothers in 2006, Jay Rock has used his time wisely, delivering a heralded mixtape series entitled Watts Finest, which featured the underground West Coast anthem, “Lift Me Up,” among others.

Never one to deny his roots, Jay Rock is known to have gang ties with the Bloods.

Through his music though, he expresses a desire to rejoice over the drive and ambition of inner city youth, rather than lionize their sometimes impractical and illegal efforts to overcome the street element.

“My album is different because you’re not gonna hear my story on somebody else’s album,” he told AllHipHop.com. “My music is not made up. It’s the life I lived. [I’m] not saying [other] people from the West ain’t real. I can only speak for myself.”

Compared to the Notorious B.l.G. for his signature baritone voice and Tupac for his seeming opportunity to represent all things West Coast, Jay Rock is understandably poised to break out in ’09.

He is however, determined to do it with his W’s up in the air, high and proud.

“I can’t break free,” he said firmly. “This is my coast! The west is my soil. So I’ma West Coast artist. My music speaks for itself. I’ma well rounded dude on the mic.”

Follow Me Home is slated for a first quarter release on Reprise Records.