March 15, 2025
Grammy Winning Rapper Jay Rock Arrested In Los Angeles
Jay Rock has been booked on suspicion of illegal firearm possession.
Grammy award-winning rapper Jay Rock was arrested by Los Angeles police on March 13. According to LAPD records, he was taken in near the Watts public housing complex where he grew up and was brought in on charges related to suspicion of illegal firearm possession.
Rock, whose legal name is Johnny Reed McKinzie, was arrested for possession of a firearm at the 13000 block of E. 115th Street in Watts.
LAPD originally stopped Rock near the Nickerson Gardens public housing apartment complex after suspecting him of trespassing and drinking in public. LAPD reported that when confronted, he allegedly fled from his vehicle leaving a firearm inside that police spotted.
In a video circulating X of the arrest, Rock claimed that he ran from police when they did not tell him what he was being detained for. He said in the video, “You don’t even know what I was drinking.”
LAPD reports confirmed that Jay Rock fled from his car after arresting officers refused to tell him why he was being detained — leading to them locating the firearm left behind.
Rock was booked on suspicion of felony weapons violation, violating California Penal Code Section 29800(a)(1).
According to NBC4, the code “prohibits people with prior felony convictions, active felony warrants or certain misdemeanor convictions from possessing a firearm…[and] is a felony charge punishable by up to three years in jail.”
Rock, 39, is most well known for working with the established music label Top Dawg Entertainment and dropping successful collaborations with fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar.
Rock won his Grammy in 2019 for the song “King’s Dead,” which he features alongside Kendrick Lamar, Future, and James Blake. In May of the same year, he was honored with the key to his hometown of Watts, given to him by the former Los Angeles Councilmember Joe Buscaino.
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