One of the most inventive and prolific rappers to emerge in the 2010s, 03 Greedo is at once deeply rooted in his chosen home and a chameleonic translator of regional sounds from around the country. After bouncing between cities including St. Louis, Kansas City, Atlanta and Sacramento, the artist born Jason Jamal Jackson settled in Watts as a teen—specifically, the infamous Jordan Downs projects. It was from there that his music, which engages with classic West Coast textures while weaving in bounce from Louisiana, melody from Georgia and the grit and narrative writing native to the Midwest, began to emanate. Beginning with his breakthrough Purple Summer trilogy, Greedo’s music has been at turns playful and elegiac, menacing and deeply mournful.