People don't like to take risks or try anything different[in hip hop] In order to make any impact in the industry, not just sales wise, but for artistry, you have to be able to go to the left. Sometimes you'll get killed for it, and sometimes you'll succeed. But he[Jay Electronica] was willing to go all the way to the left with it. -Just Blaze
As I was driving home maybe a half hour ago from the gym, thinking of what I was gonna write for this piece here, I was thinking of the change in rap I've come to notice. A lot of it is...straightforward in terms of what the rapper is saying. There isnt a lot of disguising, word play, actual lyrical skill put into it. Of course there are the exceptions, and if you want to call that exception underground or indie hip hop, then whatever. But i like to keep all together. I remember hearing about Jay Elec. because I wanted to sample some stuff off of the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind soundtrack and someone told me he(Jay) did it already. And I was like fuck, well now i'm not going to do it, but let me find who this dude is. Now, one thing that makes Jay different about just about every single rapper in the game is that he was close to or actually being the first ever rap enigma. It was like you hear about him but you couldn't find him. He was a mystery. He had no myspace. No mixtape. All you had to go off of was the Eternal Sunshine project he did, where he raps over scores from the movie(and I eventually sampled some stuff from the movie =] )
The reason why I'm sitting here writing about this guy, even though I know maybe...4-5 people will read this and maybe 2 will care, is because I actually believe that Jay Electronica is one of the best rappers alive and yet, with a huge buzz in 07, huge backing from Just Blaze and Erykah Badu, and Diddy, and Nas, he is still an enigma.
I remember him saying in an interview(URB Mag) that he's taking his time and doing things the way he wants to. He's not giving you all of him all at once and I love that. It's another way to keep you interested although, I would love to have an album from him. Why is Jay Elec special? Well, bring it back to what he's saying, how he's saying it, what he's talking about, how interesting is the way he's saying it? That is how you judge how good a rapper is. If you listen to him(playlist on the blog) you can tell that at 31 years old he's already mastered rapping and he has never put out an album. Its like he came into the game like he had been in it for 20 years. Basically shitting on any and every beat thrown at him. Dropping knowledge, telling stories, bragging, or anything, the dude can do very very well. His approach to making songs is very unorthodox, yet it works perfectly for him. It's not like everything you hear all the time. Thats why he's special. Thats why you should listen to him. The things he talks about, and how he talks about them with skill, is just incredible. Not everything is for you to get all at once, and I can dig that. So as far as rap goes, Jay Electronica is one of those few people who are wonder to listen to, who are like a breath of fresh air, who make you think, who make you realize that there can be more to a rapper than what you get on the radio.
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