Jay Electronica: The greatest Rapper you Never Heard

A thread
@JayElectronica

Elpadaro F. Electronica Allah was born in the magnolia projects New Orleans in the year 1976 born and raised in an Arabic family as a Muslim. A very Talented child By the age of 10 Jay had found a passion for rapping Inspired by LL Cool J and the legends of the late 80s.

By the late 90s he left New Orleans with plans to head to New York City however, after stopping in Atlanta there was too many employment opportunities to pass up so he became a member of the registered Nation of Islam remaining in Atlanta as a result.

While many think Act 1 was Jay electronica’s debut it was actually his 2000 release The Awakening which many didn’t even know existed until a whole decade later,a project which is listed under the name Je’ri Allah which to this day has not been verified as jay electronica

However past reviews referring to him as from New Orleans and the fact the voice sound nearly identical proved that it was indeed a Jay electronica project whether it was officially verified or not.

The Awakening is A rough around the edges and all killer no filler project where he displays elite lyricism from the filled with tales of life in the magnolia projects and his rough upbringing. A project which is so unknown it’s barely listed in his discography wherever you look

Regardless of it’s unknown nature the awakening is a great project which still sounds super modern despite being recorded decades ago.
And it introduces the listener to him in a perfect way giving perspective from years before he became the rapper he was today.

His verse on the track Raw is an incredible display of the gritty wordplay and tales of street life as well as the hard hitting delivery displayed across the Awakening.

Despite the release of The Awakening Jay was still yet to make a name for himself and was a very low profile eventually travelling to Detroit and making friends with many Important names in Detroit hip hop.

When Jay electronica met J dilla as well as Mr porter of Eminem’s group D12. It became a pivotal point in his career as He rapped over some incredible J Dilla beats and after the death of dilla received permission permission to release it as a demo.

After the death of J dilla Jay electronica’s first official Demo had finally been released titled style wars. With production from Dilla for the most part Jay raps over a variety of beats displaying such lyrical prowess and tackling impressive rhyme schemes

Style wars really introduced Jay to the hip hop world and despite not raising a huge amount of buzz at the time it really speaks volumes about his talent and is a good introduction for anyone interested in getting into his music.

Some incredible verses from the project include his brilliant opening verses on the intro Renaissance man as he sets the context so well with powerful and uplifting lyrics. Painting himself as somone who’s always got something to say a,poet in his craft.

To the track dimethyltryptamine
As Jay Raps over J dilla’s beat Phatnom of the synths getting such an important message across with dimethyltryptamine referring to the toxic chemical. as he delivers vivid lyrics and powerful messages about his worries for future society.

The majority of the tracks on Style Wars as well as a range of other Jay Electronica tracks across the years were later put together in a compilation mixtape titled What The f*ck is a Jay electronica In 2008.

A much easier to access project and a very strong and well put together compliation with of some of his strongest highlights.

Later in 2007 With little to no promotion Jay returned with his short yet polarising and cinematic masterpiece act 1:Eternal Sunshine The pledge.

Only 15 minutes in length Act 1 was a critically acclaimed masterpiece which really put Jay in the spotlight as one of the next big things.
With a boundary pushing display of such raw storytelling and poetic yet technically impressive lyricism.

Act 1 is such a creative piece of music as he breaks up the 15 minute project into 5 mini sections.
Firstly beginning with a verbal intro where producer Just Blaze and girlfriend Erykah Badu Speak about their experiences with Jay and who he truly is as a person setting context.

what is so special about act 1 it is that he doesn’t use beats in the entire project Simply rapping over parts of the melodic and soft instrumental John Brian track Theme for Eternal Sunshine of the spotless Mind.

The first song titled Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind.

He tells a passionate story of falling in love and reflects on his raw thoughts and emotions showcasing such a thought provoking and poetic way. Really setting the theme and giving insight into who he is as a person.

With the second mini track titled because he broke the rules. Jay elec portrays the contrast of falling in love as he becomes paranoid, displaced and insecure in his relationship as he not only starts to doubt himself but doubts if his relationship was ever genuine.

His insecurities draw his focus further away from the relationship. As he slowly loses Who really cared about. And while he had genuine concerns at first his anxious actions drove her away.
ending with a climax of him considering killing her new boyfriend in a fit of rage.

The 3rd track Voodoo man is a turning point for Jay as he Paints himself as the new hope the Vodoo man here to save hip hop.
with impressive and reflective wordplay such as

“Specialized lies to paralyze the conscience
Voodoo man, chit chatter Abracadabra
Spitting out matter”

Jay ends this hard hitting and introspective masterpiece with the track FYI getting out everything he has to say with his final verses with so many vulnerable reflections about himself.

Jay leaves us with the message that he’s here to change the world, He wants to do something with a lasting impact as he talks about getting caught up in lust, material possessions and letting fame get to him.

Giving us the message that he's here to become the very best person and artist he can be. The way he pours so much meaning into every line makes this outro fit the project so well and this is such an emotional and hard hitting track.

Act 1 is a one of a kind piece of music and what makes it so beautiful isn't even the poetic lyricism and introspective and emotional storytelling.
but the creativity, unique nature and the fact Jay electronica remains such an authentic artist throughout the album.

painting himself as such a pure talent never afraid to speak up or stand out pouring such passion into whatever he does.

With such a unique and stripped back sound the way jay creates such a meaningful and dense masterpiece in such a short time is really what showed everyone that he was the next big thing and here to take over hip hop.

After the release of Act 1 Jay electronica announced that Act 2 was on its way shortly after and he remained one of the most highly anticipated names in hip hop seen as the next big thing.

Act 2 was originally announced to be released on december 25 2007 however more and more days passed and it was nowhere to be found

Jay remained quiet for a long time before returning in 2009 in such a triumphant fashion releasing exhibit C and A two singles with little to no promo.

Exhibit C was the very moment where everyone knew Jay electronica was the next big thing here to take over hip hop after two years with no major releases. With jaw dropping production from Just blaze Jay electronica delivers two of the hardest verses of all time.

Proving with every little bar line and verse to be a one of a kind lyricist as he tells a tale of his entire life from a rough past to a moment of triumph.

Exhibit C remains one of the most critically acclaimed hip hop singles of all time and is the moment where Jay electronica’s endless potential was finally expressed in 5 minutes of brilliance.

With a crazy ryhme scheme Jay delivers a truly mesmerising lyrical performance on Exhibit C solidifying himself in a league of his own.

With the release of Exhibit C and A the mysterious rapper was well and truly in the prime of his career and the entire hip hop universe was still asking where exactly was Act 2.

After another quiet year in 2010 Jay-Z had announced Jay Electronica had signed to his label roc nation which gave everyone high hopes for the release of Act 2. After signing with Roc nation he released the single Shiny Suit Theory in 2010 featuring a top tier Jay-Z verse.

However when more and more time passed the possibility of the album release seemed more like a lost cause even with some occasional singles being released now and then.

Throughout the 2010s Jay kept a low profile until late 2012 when Electronica tweeted an official tracklist to Act 2 and said Houston legend Bun B had heard the album in its entirety. But Despite the tracklist a year later there was still no album.

He made a return to the spotlight for his first time in years on Big Sean's control which was overshadowed by Kendrick Lamar's ruthless verse calling out all his peers.

As a result of Kendrick's verse Jay electronica’s impressive snappy and poetic verse didn’t get the recognition it deserved as he continued to prove his elite pen game despite no new music in years.

He delivered some great features and singles across the 2010s and then and even released the short and sweet track letter to fallon after being inspired by the NBA finals however the prospect of new music seemed impossible at this stage.

Questions continued to rise year after year as to exactly why such a talent who has an album completely finished wouldn’t release a piece of music which would be so pivotal to his career.

Many say it’s because he's always been a man driven by faith and he only feels the need to make music if his heart is truly into it however Jay never really left an explanation himself.

When all hope was dead for new music on the date February 7 2020 a few tweets sparked such a large amount of hype throughout the hip hop community as he announced in 40 days his debut album featuring Jay-z would be released.

13 years after the announcement of his debut album a day many people thought we would never see was here his debut album A Written Testimony had arrived . For such a highly anticipated album it was bound to face mixed reviews.

guest starring Jay-Z on nearly every track critics were skeptical as to whether Jay electronica was outperformed or not and despite critical acclaim for A written testimony from a lot of major hip hop publications some people didn’t think it was worth the wait.

However for me personally it’s one of the best releases of 2020 and an album that continues to age like fine wine with hov and Jay electronica displaying strong chemistry and both delivering elite verses over such clean and shiny production.

Jay electronica is such a compelling and passionate storyteller throughout and hov never fails to impress with his goat tier wordplay.

Jay electronica delivers so many passionate displays of storytelling from the remensicent tales of the past on The Neverending Story, to his passionate and powerful tales of his comeup to the everyday struggle of trying to be the best he can be on Ezikiels wheel.

However the magnum opus of A written testimony has to be A.P.I.D.T.A or All Praises Is Due To Allah. One of the hardest hitting outro’s I've heard in a long time.

as both Hov and Jay electronica pour such raw emotions out into every line addressing loss,emptiness,stress and deep and dark pain in such a dark and harrowing song

With so many raw and personal lines

“The day my momma died, I scrolled her texts all day long
The physical returns but the connection still stay strong
Now I understand why you used to cry sometimes we ride down Claybourne
You just missed your, you just missed your mama”

It was later said that the song was written on the day of Kobe Bryant and Gianna’s death adding a tragic undertone to this track and giving an insight into what was going through Jay Electronica's mind at the time.

After the release of A Written testimony Jay received the comeback story everyone had been waiting for however most people thought this meant we would never see the infamously promised album Act 2.

However on October 5th with 0 prior notice Act 2 was leaked and the highly anticipated masterpiece was everything that was expected.

Filled with such surreal production,Captivating,storytelling elite wordplay and poetic tales of the past Act 2 is such a wild and unique experience.

An album filled with so many highlights including the incredible lyrical display on Road to Perdition over a ceremonial instrumental as he delivers such a moving and inspiring verse.

To the sad and poetic storytelling over a heaven sent David Bowie sample as he tries to escape from himself on run and hide.

Another mesmerising moment being the track Dinner At Tiffany’s with a glorious and rich set of instrumentals with some transporting vocals from Charlotte Gainsbourg

Act 2 is such a cinematic experience and real proof that Jay electronica is one of the greatest ever, a long lost masterpiece which is honestly one of the best albums i’ve heard in so long.

To Really sum up Jay Electronica’s greatness is such a hard thing because he has so many incredible qualities yet so little music that was officially released. And While i could go on forever about his ruthless delivery and captivating lyrical ability.

what really makes Jay electronica such a great artist isn’t just individual traits. For me what Makes Jay electronica one of the greatest ever is the fact he’s not afraid to embrace who he is,

Jay electronica is himself and nothing but himself and every piece of music he puts together is expressing who he is

Every verse he releases is a story, a tale and a reflection of his life and who he is and Act 1 and 2 are perfect examples of his ability to make such impactful pieces of music and push boundaries.

With such a poetic style his ability to make music which is so emotionally dense and connects with the listener so well is one of his greatest artistic skills. And I can really say that the music he made changed my life and picked me up when I was down at times.

Jay Electronica is one of the most special and unique talents the hip hop world has ever seen. A personal idol of mine is one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Such a passionate master in his craft and one of the most talented rappers ever to live

Thank You all for reading I appreciate the love