![]() The leak and subsequent release of Act II prove that the quality of the music was never in question.įor much of the following decade, Jay Electronica’s album release date got lost in a sea of pushbacks, interview fodder, and other distractions. “Exhibit C” caught fire and prompted a bidding war between labels, before Electronica signed to Roc Nation in 2010 and promised his official debut album, previously announced as Act II: The Patents of Nobility, would be coming soon. At a time when some thought rap was losing its way, it seemed Jay Electronica could steer it back in the right direction. If Act I was a premonition from prophets we already trusted, “Exhibit C” felt like the messianic figure announcing his own arrival. The song was gripping, transcendent, and most of all, encouraging. ![]() He explains how he grew up in New Orleans, weathered homelesses and substance abuse while nomadically living in Brooklyn, Philly, and Detroit, and eventually found redemption after embracing the pro-Black religious teachings of the Nation of Gods and Earths (otherwise known as the Five Percenters), and later, Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad. Over a triumphant, thunderous beat by Just Blaze, Electronica tells his story himself, instead of leaving it up to others. Jay Electronica’s story was more fully crystallized on “Exhibit C,” an autobiographical opus that he debuted on a Shade 45 radio show in 2009, before releasing it that December. The EP felt like a short film itself, a prequel to a feature. Once the music began, it did sound like something we hadn’t heard before, certainly not in affiliation with those two: songs that were high on film samples and low on drums, with lyrics that were both abstract and vividly specific all at once, loaded with internal rhyme schemes and poetic language. But we knew that two artists who we respected had all but declared him as a savior at a time when hip-hop felt stale to some. We didn't know much about Jay Electronica yet, in terms of the bones of his life story, where he was from, his family history, and his formative years. “But he was one of the few artists that was just willing to go all the way to the left with it.” “The reason I had kinda gotten bored with hip-hop in general is because people don't like to take risks, and they don't like to try anything different,” he said, in his signature scratchy voice. Just Blaze beamed about his musical curiosity, and said he saw Electronica as a bright spot in an industry that had otherwise fatigued him. Badu (who was in a romantic relationship with Jay) called him “peculiarly intelligent,” comparing him to an alien, and said she wanted to start a label just to sign him. They also shared their perspectives about what he could mean to the music industry. Over meditative piano keys, they told their respective stories about how they met Electronica, giving glimpses into what sounded like a warm but oddball personality. From the beginning of his career to the recent leak (and subsequent release) of his decade-plus-delayed solo album, Act II: The Patents of Nobility, the man born Timothy Elpadaro Thedford has been one of rap’s most mythological figures.īefore Jay Electronica rapped a single word on his debut mixtape, Act I: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge), which he released on MySpace in 2007, we heard producer Just Blaze and singer-songwriter Erykah Badu share personal stories and accolades about him. And as long as we’ve known who Jay Electronica is, that has rung true. Any music industry professional, journalist, or even fan knows that an artist’s story is just as important as their music.
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