THE LOST AND FOUND

The first time I heard Jay E was sometime last year, he was on Just Blaze’s top 8 and his myspace picture was Lando Calrissian. He had a dope cover of The World Is Yours on his page which I played for about a week. Now he’s on the cover of URB with Badu and I’m realizing I put off writing about him for too long…

I’ve seen this guy get snuffed just on his name, and it’s too bad really because he’s got next, or next next or maybe he’ll never blow up, but he at least he deserves to be pirated a little more. This guy is literally rapping over movie scores, and incorporating sound bytes from shit like Charlie and the Chocolate the Factory (the OG one… no Johnny Depp) and the Prestige on his songs.

But he’s not for everyone. For beat heads, who have trouble liking songs with weak or minimal production be warned; Jay’s strength is his writing. One thing to mention about him is that he seems to approach all of his work with crazy calculation. Just Blaze calls him a “tactician”… he gives his releases schedules… and themes, and as opposed to dropping mixtapes he’s taken to calling them “Acts”. Act I he released on his myspace late last year in the form of one .rar file, Act II was supposed to drop on Christmas but has been delayed, and Act III, supposedly his debut album, has yet to be given a date.

He’s been confirmed as a guest on Nas’ ‘Nigger‘ album slated to drop April 22, which will most likely be pushed back. His homie runs a dope blog (Classic Drug References) where you can find most of his tracks that leak and some old interviews. Okayplayer usually has the scoop on him as well if you want to follow what he’s doing.

Downloads:

Jay Electronica & Zed Bias: The Cauldron

Jay Electronica: Victory Is In My Clutches

Jay Electronica: My World (Nas Salute)

Jay Electronica f. Mr.Porter (of D12): Hard to Get

Jay Electronica: Eternal Sunshine (if you just want the goods)

Jay Electronica: Departure & Are You Watching Closely?

Jay Electronica: “ACT 1” (if you want the whole experience)

- Oren