With all the recent ruckus surrounding Kendrick Lamar's verse off "Control" (a Big Sean release), Jay Electronica pops up and makes his name known (once) again to the hip hop fans, but how come we don't hear from Jay that often?
Everyone is talking about Kendrick, which makes sense, but I'm more interested now in what the deal is Jay Electronica. I wonder if this buzz will fuel his likeness to a new fan base. Jay can flow and he's really creative. If you haven't heard "Swagger Jacksons Revenge", you could be missing out on of the deepest songs in hip hop. He also knows how to stay relevant. For example, he talks about (exclusively) female characters from the Wizard of Oz on the new Mac Miller album, on the song "Suplexes inside of complexes and duplexes" - DOPE.
Here's my point: If you type in YouTube "Jay Electronica" the entire first page of search results is copies of the track "Control". PS: Big Sean snapped on that song, too.
Jay Electronica became well-known (in my opinion) when he signed to Roc Nation in 2010. That is when Roc Nation first was becoming what it is today, a multi-facet entertainment firm. Jay Z signs Jay Electronica, huh? If Jay Z cosigns him, he must be off the chain. But, he didn't make that much mainstream noise. Jay has core fans, but a lot of people I surround myself with, I don't hear his name EVER come up in a rap conversation until recently.
I dig his music, I dig his spirit and I dig his style. I like that in a world filled with over-saturated content, Jay Electronica comes out twice a year and makes a HUGE splash in the hip hop world. So, major shot out to Jay and we hope to interview him on our show one day!
Here are a few facts about Mr. Electronica:
- He is from New Orleans - The Magnolia Projects
- He has a baby with Erika Badu
- Before he signed with Roc Nation, he had close ties with Bad Boy (Diddy)
- He's in his own lane, but could be compared to the Mos Def's, Talib's, and that style of music