Born Johnny Reed McKinzie, Jr., Rock was raised in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With help from Top Dawg Entertainment, Rock shopped his demos and mixtapes, eventually landing a deal with Warner Bros. By the end of 2010, he had left Warner, but deepened his connection with TDE as a member of Black Hippy alongside Kendrick Lamar, ScHoolboy Q, and Ab-Soul. 

In 2018, after he survived a serious motorcycle accident, Rock joined with Lamar, Future, and James Blake for the number 21 pop hit "King's Dead," which appeared on Marvel's Lamar-curated Black Panther soundtrack. Rock's third proper album, Redemption, followed that June via Interscope and entered the Billboard 200 at number 13. Two of its inclusions were Grammy- nominated: "King's Dead" (for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song) and "Win" (also for Best Rap Song); "King's Dead" took home the award for Best Rap Performance. 2023 saw Rock release 3 hit singles, “Too Fast” ft. Latto, “Blowfly” ft. Label mate Ab-Soul, and “Eastside.”