Barry Jones | Staff Writer
Photo Credit: Flickr User Joshua Mellin
Jay Electronica, one of hip-hop’s biggest mysteries, has finally tweeted that, after a decade, he has finished his debut album.
Electronica got his start in 2009 with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. He immediately got to work with some of the industry’s biggest producers such as Young Guru and Just Blaze.
In December 2009, Jay Electronica released one of hip-hop’s most revered records to date: Exhibit C.
Exhibit C, produced by Just Blaze, caught major attention worldwide. To say Jay Electronica had an amazing introduction is an understatement. Exhibit C landed Electronica in the “all-time” conversation by various critics. New Music Express called Exhibit C “the most accomplished piece of ‘conscious rap’ this millennium.”
Yet, after such a strong first showing. Jay Electronica went all but missing on the music scene, with only a few guest verses over the next 10 years, such as Big Sean’s Control, Jay-Z’s Shiny Suit Theory and his record Better in Tune with the Infinite.
Until now.
Jay Electronica on Feb. 7 tweeted, “Album Done,” and followed up with another tweet: “…my debut album featuring Hov man this is highway robbery.”
Immediately following this tweet, many media outlets and media personalities took to Instagram to share the news. Elliot Wilson, the host of the Rap Radar Podcast on Tidal, posted a screenshot of the tweet to his page. The comments flooded with comments like “yeah right” or “he’s gotta be joking.” However, Young Guru, the lead in-house sound engineer for Roc Nation, quoted the tweet, saying: “Facts!!!!!!! This is not a drill.”
The news caused quite a rumble in the hip-hop community. The community was not only shocked by the fact that Jay Electronica stated that the album is finished, but also the fact that he insinuated that it is a collaboration album with Jay-Z. This in itself caused quite the controversy. Mal Clay, co-host of the Joe Budden Podcast and brother of Roc-a-Fella/Roc Nation Co-founder Kareem “Biggs” Burke, stated on Episode 321 that “they [Jay Z and Electronica] have a lot of records together on the album, so it’s looking like it might be a Watch the Throne type of thing or something in that vein.”
Joe Budden himself did not take favorably to the idea of Electronica’s first album being a collaboration with Jay-Z, saying, “For Jay Elec to come out and rap one song and be pitted with the elite and then never rap again and then come out with an album 10-11 years later with Hov?”
The idea does seem a bit farfetched and straight up unfair. However, the skill that Jay Electronica has shown through his very limited catalog gives hip-hop fans something to dream about when it comes to a potential debut album from Electronica with Hov.
The same issue that plagued Andre 3000’s career, the lack of a solo album, has seemed to come to an end for Jay Electronica. We will see if he comes through with his word. If so, this is lining up to be one of the most anticipated hip hop album releases over the last two decades.
According to a Jay Electronica tweet, the album is “Releasing 40 days” from Feb. 7. That creates an expected release date around March 18.
The Hampton Script 