JAY ELECTRONICA
Jay Electronica is one of the most exciting, fastest-rising talents in hip-hop. The rapper and producer – who’s been compared to Nas in his Illmatic prime – provides an exhilarating blast of fresh air in a world suffocating under bubblegum rap and lightweight hip-pop. Described by Jay-Z as “incredible”, his growing army of fans already includes Mos Def, Erykah Badu, P Diddy and The Roots.Just Blaze – another champion of Jay – provides the inspired beatover which Electronica documents his homeless days in Brooklyn and nomadic early life before spinning off in other dizzying directions.The online word of mouth buzz around Jay Electronica and Exhibit C briefly propelled the track to the top of the US iTunes chart recently. The single continues to grow and gather momentum picking up commercial radio play in America (a virtually unheard of scenario for an independent artist), and the heat is being increasingly felt in the UK too thanks to early support from Tim Westwood, Semtex, Benji B, DJ Swerve, Gilles Peterson and others.Born in the Magnolia projects of New Orleans, Jay Electronica now lives in New York.The first unreleased recordings by this mysterious figure began to surface and circulate online. One of these early offerings, Eternal Sunshine – featuring lyrics on love and religion cascading over the beat-free soundscape of the Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind film score – especially helped to distinguish Jay from the hip-hop herd. In addition to songwriting and rapping, Jay’s skills also extend to production and lead to him crafting the opening track for Nas’s most recent Untitled album.A full Jay Electronica debut LP is planned for later this year. In the meantime, interested listeners and readers should seek out the unofficial Victory mixtape for a blistering album-length showcase of Jay’s electrifying potential.
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