After being disapointed with Tha Carter III, we got around to wondering, where is the frontline of progressive hip-hop? Someone who is making sounds and beats that are as ingenious as they are original? We want someone who is "the complete package," or "the future." Luckily, those are the words of
Nas we're quoting. And he is talking about
Jay Electronica.
There isn't much information on his site or anywhere out there about what this guy is up to, but the stuff on his Myspace is so boundary pushing, it's intense. "The Pledge" is a pretty epic cut (listen below). The music is haunting and edgy, and the rhymes are so smooth.
"just blaze said jay he the new kid/i took eternal sunshine and i looped it/no hooks no drums all new shit"
A little combing the loose change of the net turned up some other tracks. Not only that, he is working with
Nas on an album (which may or may not be called
Abacradabra: Let Their Be Light), and has appeared recently with
Mos Def at
Carnegie Hall (with a future date at
Centerstage with
Talib Kweli. Why isn't this guy a household name yet? Probably because he sounds less like the biggest name in underground hip-hop buzz and more like a cross-dressing house music DJ. Of course that's in name only. Honestly, we don't really care... we want more of this guy. We're keeping our ears to the ground on this one.-
joe puglisi
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MP3: Jay Electronica:: Act I: The Pledge
MP3: Jay Electronica:: Bitches and Drugs
Jay Electronica on Myspace