Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a Huge Cody Jinks Fan (& Sturgill, Jamey Johnson, etc.)
Who knew actor Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a The Rock had such good taste in music? Well his 82.5 million followers on Instagram do now after Sunday evening he let his love for Cody Jinks, and specifically Cody’s song “Somewhere in the Middle” from his 2010 record Less Wise be known.
“I tried, but I could never write music that good,” Johnson posted. “I always had a decent ear for rhythm and a good eye for lyrics though. Check this song out by one of my favs Cody Jinks. These lyrics spoke to me pretty quickly. And where the chorus goes tempo and rhythmically is pretty cool … ‘You never know who you’re talking to, but always know who’s watching you, keep your feet movin’ straight down the line.'”
Many people might not remember, but at one point Dwayne Johnson was cast to play country legend Charley Pride in a biopic film. In 2011, actor Terrence Howard backed out of the position and Johnson reportedly stepped in. However the Charley Pride film has been indefinitely delayed due to what is rumored to be rights issues with some of the film’s material.
Dwayne Johnson didn’t stop with his love for Cody Jinks either. “I’m a life long fan of traditional, hard core country (Paycheck, Willie, Haggard, Jones, Jamey Johnson, Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson etc) but even if you’re not, I think you’ll dig and appreciate it.”
A native of Ft. Worth, Texas, Cody Jinks has been on an incredible clip lately after the release of his 7th album I’m Not The Devil. It was named Saving Country Music’s 2016 Album of the Year. With a head full of momentum, Cody’s been packing venues on his current tour, and looks to be on a similar trajectory to Sturgill Simpson who saw his meteoric rise due to high-profile endorsements among other accolades.
April 10, 2017 @ 7:28 am
Somewhat related, I first heard of Colter Wall from an interview Brock Lesnar did back in late 2015 before he picked up steam in the underground. Paul Heyman even used one of his songs in an unofficial preview for a WWE PPV at the time. You can probably guess which one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsS-8oB02e4
April 10, 2017 @ 7:32 am
This is one of my faves. Guess I smell what the Rock is cooking!
April 10, 2017 @ 7:34 am
In my opinion I think something like this could do about as much good as performing on a late night talk show, if not more.
April 10, 2017 @ 7:53 am
Honestly, it’s probably bigger. The late night shows are definitely a big moment of validation for artists. Their parents and fans can watch them on national TV, and it can expose them to new fans. But you don’t get the follow through in that medium for whatever reason, unless you really hit it out of the park. There’s been articles written about this stuff, and it’s one of the reasons some of the bigger artists don’t even bother to play late night anymore. But if people are real devout followers of a celebrity like this, they take these suggestions to heart. And give credit to Johnson for not just posting a album cover and leaving it at that, but taking the time to explain why he loved Cody and the song. I don’t think this will make Cody an overnight sensation or anything, but when you look at how Sturgill rose, it was after a number of these type of endorsements.
By the way, if you look at Cody Jinks’ numbers, they’re incredible. The video of “Somewhere in the Middle” I posted above has some 600,000 views. Cody was blowing up even before this.
April 10, 2017 @ 8:08 am
I would signicantly bigger. The Rock has one the largest active social media presences among celebrities. Not only that he has very loyal and interactive followers. He has 82 million follwers which Late Night shows are dwarfs in comparison. It’s more than just an impression, it’s a personal recommendation with Cody’s name, track and album title. This is awesome.
April 10, 2017 @ 7:43 am
I love the Rock, but I don’t think I could watch a film starring a 260lb ripped Charley Pride hahahaha
April 10, 2017 @ 11:32 am
Lol was probably before he got so big
April 10, 2017 @ 7:48 am
I am sacrificing a long weekend at camp to see Cody when he comes to town this summer.
Don’t do that for too many shows.
April 10, 2017 @ 7:56 am
Love it! Cody and Sturgill in Season 3 of Ballers?? I can so see strurgill and Cody kicking with John David Washington, Omar Miller and Rob Corddry. Sturgill already chaulked up some fans in the Country mainstream with jake Owen, Frankie Ballard, Lee Ann Womack, And Sam Hunt of all people.
April 10, 2017 @ 7:59 am
Wouldn’t it be funny if The Rock and the color commentator for the UFC/the guy from Fear Factor are the catalysts that bring our favorite newish country artists to the mainstream.
April 10, 2017 @ 11:15 pm
That would be great.. Joe Rogan is a great spokesman, as is The Rock..
April 10, 2017 @ 8:17 am
The Rock is the absolute best.
He has a pretty great cover of “You Ain’t Woman Enough (to Take My Man)” as well.
April 10, 2017 @ 12:13 pm
That was a great send up in “Be Cool”, the sequel to “Get Shorty”. Probably the funniest part of the movie.
April 10, 2017 @ 8:23 am
I didn’t know about Cody until I’m Not The Devil came around but I’ve since delved into his back catalogue and Less Wise is a corker of an album.Not so easy to get the physical product in the UK got the slow post from the USA but well worth it along with 30 and Adobe Sessions
April 10, 2017 @ 8:27 am
The song and lyrics the Rock reference is the best Cody song. It might be the best hook in any country song in the last 25 years. Catchy as hell.
April 10, 2017 @ 8:50 am
Hey Trigger, love what you do. Any chance of a Jarrod Birmingham review? I think you will like and wonder what you think of it front to back.
April 10, 2017 @ 12:32 pm
Jarrod Birmingham’s on the radar.
April 10, 2017 @ 9:44 am
I won’t hold this against Jinks.
April 10, 2017 @ 9:58 am
Now if only he’d lay the Smackdown on these Bro Country bitches.
April 10, 2017 @ 1:16 pm
People’s Elbow to FGL. Would pay to see that.
April 10, 2017 @ 10:46 am
One of my favorite wrestlers as a kid has good taste!
April 10, 2017 @ 11:23 am
Rock learned how to play guitar because he wanted to play Patsy Clines walking after midnight which is one of his favorite songs
April 10, 2017 @ 11:25 am
Also if you read the comments on the post he agrees with others who said modern couples try sucks and even threw out a “murder on music row”
April 10, 2017 @ 11:36 am
OT: Trigger are you posting a preview and a review of Old Settler’s Music Fest. The bill is stacked. I haven’t seen Mandolin Orange, Sam Bush believe it that or not nor Shiny Ribs yet whom I been wanting to see all of them. I got 4 day passes. That whole darn weekend is solid. James McCurty playing at Continental Club Thurs, Sweeney playing at Smithville Jamboree, Red Shahan at Cheatham, Borland at Gruene Hall. And if that isn’t enough Willie/Kacey at Whitewater, and Miranda and Kristofferson at Moody. I haven’t seen that stacked of a weekend for our music around Austin outside of ACL or SX in years.
April 10, 2017 @ 1:29 pm
This is amazing. I’m an ex Austinite and I’ll be in town for it.
April 10, 2017 @ 11:37 am
*boland. Sorry
April 10, 2017 @ 11:43 am
He then proceeded to call Sam Hunt a jabroni, referred to Florida Georgia Line as ‘a couple of corporate candy asses’ and also mentioned something about laying the smackdown on Bobby Bones and Scott Borchetta..”
Wishful thinking, right?
April 10, 2017 @ 1:01 pm
No but he did reference “Murder on Music Row” as 63Guild pointed out above, so he knows what’s up.
April 10, 2017 @ 12:15 pm
The Rock is actually a really good guitar player. This is great. I love that guy. It will help with exposure for sure.
April 10, 2017 @ 12:23 pm
I thought less wise was from 2010 not 2014
April 10, 2017 @ 12:53 pm
You’re right. On Spotify it says Copyright 2014, probably because that was when it was uploaded. But it was released in 2010.
April 10, 2017 @ 12:27 pm
Curious what your traffic spike is after the rock post.
April 10, 2017 @ 12:58 pm
There was a decent spike in traffic, but nothing out of the ordinary. Even if you have a celebrity profile with 11 million followers, if they’re tweeing constantly, each tweet may not get a lot of attention. Also the life of a Tweet is very short. It may cause a spike in traffic, but dies off rather quickly compared to Facebook or something. Jason Isbell doesn’t have nearly as many Twitter followers (though he has a lot), but when he Tweets out something, it will cause a huge spike because it’s more rare, and because his followers are more likely to read a story on music than The Rock’s followers.
All that said, it was really cool for him to give SCM a shoutout, and obviously to Cody whose music inspired him to post on Instagram, and me to cover the story. It’s a win all the way around.
April 10, 2017 @ 6:51 pm
Interesting. Amazing how difficult it is to drive traffic to a site. Thanks!
April 10, 2017 @ 12:50 pm
This is really cool.
He sure likes the same music I do.
April 10, 2017 @ 4:15 pm
That’s great. Cody Jinks deserves it, and The Rock is very generous for promoting an artist he likes. He has good taste in music indeed.
April 10, 2017 @ 5:02 pm
No surprise to me been a wrestling fan for over 30 years, Rock and Austin sang The Gambler one night in the ring live on Raw a few years back.
Then this week, a video was released of The Undertaker talking about George Strait.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OizF4hROkxw
April 10, 2017 @ 6:06 pm
Dwayne’s a good guy, he likes it, and it’s good for his demographic and sales
does he buy records? act as a VC or patron? money where mouth is? hope so, but probably hard to know?
hooray for the boost
April 10, 2017 @ 11:17 pm
Just when I thought The Rock couldn’t get any cooler……
April 11, 2017 @ 7:59 am
I do believe the Rock tweeted about this article.
April 13, 2017 @ 6:56 pm
The Rock is probably one of the coolest guys ever, this just makes him even more badass.