Second blog! [On Jay Electronica]

So I've done some editing to the visuals of this blog and we now have the curious face of a Llama hanging out a car in NYC to greet us. Thank you Inge Morath, reknown Austrian photographer (who I only discovered thanks to the watermark on the photo) for capturing this endlessly amusing photograph. I'll have a new rambling film blog in the next few days as I'm planning to head out to the old theatre to catch some flicks, so look out for that. In the mean time I'll deliver this relatively brief blog on an artist I've discovered this week.

That artist is Jay Electronica. I discovered him late one night on a wander through the city while listening to BFM. The dude raps over the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind soundtrack. And its amazing. Check it:

No drum beat. No bass. No added samples. Just a fucking soundtrack and an amazing fucking rapper. This guy sounds like hes lived. Hes got shit to say and is not afraid to do it in a unique way that other rappers won't touch. Although I am most attracted to the interesting approach to Hiphop that the Eternal Sunshine raps provide, his more traditional tracks kick just as much ass as well. In the last few years he has released some mixtapes, singles and one compilation album over more straight foward Hiphop beats, produced by the likes of J Dilla (his 2007 demo) and Just Blaze. A highlight of his releases to date is this track, titled Exhibit C (there's also an Exhibit A which is awesome as well). The beat is amazing, with Electronica's style perhaps bringing the most out of producer Just Blaze*.

 

That was the first track I heard by this guy, walking home late at night after the Most Fun You Can Have Dying screening. It pretty much blew my mind. He talks about poverty a lot, living on the streets. He's not about bragging, perhaps about his skill but it is warranted; he's head and shoulders above many other mainstream rappers.  He has an appreciation for the old school of rap, often quoting classic rhymes, such as that of Busta Rhymes and even those three jewish boys who I hold so dearly to my heart.

The other interesting thing about this guy is that he's 36 yet only just entered the recorded rap world about four or five years ago. He's not exactly prolific as well, his releases are few and far between and majority of them are mixtape releases or EP's. Theres one official CD release, What The Fuck Is Jay Electronica? from 2010, which compiles his mixtape, EP and single releases. He's yet to deliver a debut album. When that happens I'm gonna be eyes and ears on this dude, I'm sure its gonna be awesome. For now I'll bash his somewhat scattered back catalogue and wait in anticipation. He's also apparently gonna appear on Kanye West's upcoming G.O.O.D. Music compilation album. Exciting stuff for 2012!

A lot of you guys maybe already know about this guy, but if you don't and you're into Hiphop or just great modern music thats slightly left of centre, check Jay Electronica out. I hope I'm not sounding like a total rap n00b ranting about this guy, but it is totally sick shit. Its not that often I find an underground rapper I really love.

Blog two complete! To quote Shania Twain, can only go up from here!