Jay Electronica has yet to release a full-length album but has released two official singles to date, "Exhibit A" and "Exhibit C," which won a Sucker Free Summit Award for Instant Classic. His music so far has been made available through the internet, either through being leaked to what URB magazine describes as "obscure web forums", or through an appearing and disappearing MySpace page (currently two seem to be in existence, at /jayelect and at /jayelectronica). Erykah Badu has questioned whether he ever will release, in her words, "actual albums". From New Orleans, LA he has lived in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Denver, and Detroit, where he recorded his Style Wars-era music with several J Dilla beats, meeting the producer subsequently to ask for permission to use the recordings as a demo. Detroit is where Electronica met producer/engineer Mike "Chav" Chavarria, who introduced him to both J Dilla and Mr. Porter, and who is now a regular collaborator.
Jay Electronica first gained significant attention through Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge), made available on a MySpace page in 2007. It is 9:13 continuous minutes of music, without drums, built from Jon Brion's soundtrack to the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. There are five segments or movements, marked by changes in music and mood, raps by Electronica, and occasional snippets of sampled dialogue (children arguing in Kurdish, Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka). The first segment is spoken word by Just Blaze and Erykah Badu describing the artist over piano music. The nature of the piece of music, along with the nature of its appearance, led to a slow build-up of interest in Electronica as an enigmatic figure. Songs circulating online as the Style Wars EP gained wider circulation, and other songs, such as the dream-inspired "Dimethyltryptamine", soon appeared. In January 2008, Gilles Peterson's 90-minute Gilles Peterson Worldwide was devoted to the rapper. Hiphopdx.com in 2008 called him "arguably...the most talked about new emcee last year ... at times...more like a myth or urban legend than an actual rapper", and URB ran a cover story on the artist under the banner "Jay Electronica: A Spotless Mind:: An MC’s mystery revealed", which referred to his wanderings as his being "like some sort of hip-hop Jack Kerouac".
Jeff Weiss' piece for the L.A. Weekly, "Jay Electronica: Much Better Than His Name Would Suggest", acknowledged that the rapper could be fairly described as "one of the most buzzed about rappers of 2008", but attempted to temper the hype somewhat, describing Act 1... as "ambitious, wildly original, if not slightly pretentious", while endorsing only to an extent the comparisons URB had made (referencing an "abstract rhyming style") to rappers like Nas and Pharoahe Monch.
According to URB, Act II: Patents of Nobility will feature Nas, and will be the second of a putative trilogy. URB also reported that digital EPs with both Guilty Simpson and producer 9th Wonder were planned. His most recent music as of November 2008 is the Just Blaze-produced track "Exhibit A (Transformations)".
According to a Filter TV interview, Jay Electronica has partnered with Decon to release his debut project. It is being described as a multi-media release and footage from the project which was partially shot in Nepal and Dubai has begun to surface online. The first clip to leak is titled "Dear Moleskine" and can be found on YouTube, the track was produced by Just Blaze and the clip was directed by Jason Goldwatch from Decon. In June of 2009, Decon and Jay's "The Dogon Society" released "Exhibit A" digitally. "Exhibit C" was released on iTunes December 16, 2009 and quickly shot to the top 10 of the iTunes Hip-Hop charts. The following week it was chosen by Hot 97's DJ Enuff as the Heavy Hitter pick of the week. On February 9, 2010, it was announced Jay Electronica will appear at the 2010 Bonnaroo Music Festival. Further proof of the continuing buzz about this artist saw On Jay Electronica sell out 2 nights at the Jazz Cafe Jazz Café, London (UK) on Feb 17, 2010.
Jay Electronica continued his scattered release practice, dropping "A Million In The Morning" on April 4, 2010. The song features a weary Electronica trying to keep himself awake to escape his nightmares.
On April 30th, Jay Electronica debuted "The Ghost of Christopher Wallace" via his Twitter. The song features P Diddy and is produced by London beatsmith Quincey Tones, who is known for producing such acts as Young Jeezy and Royce da 5'9".
On 12th November 2010, Jay-Z announced that Jay Electronica was officially the newest member of his own 'Roc Nation' record label/management company, which boasts such acts as J. Cole and Willow Smith.
Jay has been travelling the world and was in London, United Kingdom for an extended period of time completing his debut album 'Act II: Patents of Nobility (The Turn)'.
Jay Electronica and Erykah Badu have a child together, a girl named Mars Merkaba, born on February 1, 2009.
Google Eyes
Jay Electronica Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've been screamin for the past 3 days, I'm hoarse!"
She was spinnin like she ain't never seen waves before,
So I gave her a boat, and an oar, and a starter guide,
Safely to the shore.
She said she never believed in Moses and Lore,
Unless I showed her. So I showed her,
Gave it right to her like I owed her,
She said "Oh I, can't believe it, it's a miracle!"
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a spherical object,
Hovering hi-tech right out the projects,
He can move mountains without flexin his bi-cepts.
He speak a strange dialect,
I start droppin jewelry,
Her eyes went googly, she went home and Google'd me.
MySpace, Friend Requested and YouTubed me.
A hundred thousand views of me,
Buildin me a castle on the backs of wack rappers out here, spittin that foolery.
She logged onto G-Mail, clicked Compose and said,
"I don't do this usually,
Nas said Hip-Hop is dead and what these other niggas spittin is just Eulogy.
You represent the truth in me, true,
Cats is nice but I ain't seen the god since Hova spit that baby blue to me.
Truely yours, don't let me down like Lennon,
The greatest paid they sacrifices in they early beginnins.
P.S. LL Rocked the Bell, now it's yo time,
Your train's runnin off schedule, LOL Showtime.
I hear your name ringin, I feel the game changin,
Niggas know, every rhyme you spit,
Is like Rakim in his flags,
Spittin flames with his chain danglin.
Barack Obama with his dame way out in Maine wranglin.
The game'll swallow you if you ain't strong enough to make it follow you.
I'd pack my bags and head home if I was you."
So salute to the most honorable,
MC, Abombinable,
Jay Electronica.
The lyrics to Jay Electronica's song "Google Eyes" paint a vivid picture of a woman who is taken aback by the raw talent of the artist. The woman is in awe, screaming and spinning around like she has never experienced anything like this before. Jay Electronica responds by giving her a boat and an oar to guide her safely to shore, showing her the way of Moses and Lore. He switches from Shrek the Ogre to Master Yoda, dropping jewels and spitting fire in his lyrics, causing her eyes to go googly. She goes home and Google's him, only to find a hundred thousand views of him online, building a castle on the backs of wack rappers.
The woman is so moved that she writes to him, likening him to Rakim with his chain danglin' and Barack Obama with his dame wranglin'. She sees something special in him, that most others lack, with his representational truth. She encourages him to keep moving the game forward and taking it places it has never gone before.
The lyrics are representative of the admiration that fans feel for their favorite musicians, the way they capture our attentions and hold it with their creative talent. It is understandable how fans can become enamored with the art that is created and want to be a part of the journey.
Line by Line Meaning
She said "Jay I'm yours,
She declared that she was his
I've been screamin for the past 3 days, I'm hoarse!"
She was so excited and emotional that she had been screaming for three days and was now hoarse
She was spinnin like she ain't never seen waves before,
She was spinning around with excitement as if she had never seen waves before
So I gave her a boat, and an oar, and a starter guide,
He gave her everything she needed to explore the waves and navigate safely
Safely to the shore.
She was guided safely to shore
She said she never believed in Moses and Lore,
She stated that she never believed in the stories and legends of Moses
Unless I showed her. So I showed her,
But he showed her and proved her wrong
Gave it right to her like I owed her,
He gave her a complete understanding of the stories as if he owed it to her
That's when I changed from Shrek the Ogre into Master Yoda,
He went from being a clumsy ogre like Shrek to a wise and powerful guru like Master Yoda
She said "Oh I, can't believe it, it's a miracle!"
She was in disbelief and thought that it was a miracle
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a spherical object,
He's describing his greatness as something inexplicable and almost supernatural
Hovering hi-tech right out the projects,
He's saying that his greatness comes from humble beginnings
He can move mountains without flexin his bi-cepts.
He can do amazing things without even trying
He speak a strange dialect,
He has a unique and powerful way of speaking
I start droppin jewelry,
His words and rhymes are like valuable jewels that he's dropping
Her eyes went googly, she went home and Google'd me.
She was so impressed that she searched for him on Google
MySpace, Friend Requested and YouTubed me.
She also found him on other social media platforms and requested to be his friend
A hundred thousand views of me,
His content has reached a mass audience of a hundred thousand views
Buildin me a castle on the backs of wack rappers out here, spittin that foolery.
He is building his reputation by defeating and surpassing the lesser, fake rappers who are spitting nonsense foolishly
She logged onto G-Mail, clicked Compose and said,
She wrote to him an email after she found and was impressed by him online
"I don't do this usually,
She doesn't usually email people like this
Nas said Hip-Hop is dead and what these other niggas spittin is just Eulogy.
Nas said that Hip-Hop is dead and what the others are spitting is just an obituary
You represent the truth in me, true,
She believes that he represents the truth within her
Cats is nice but I ain't seen the god since Hova spit that baby blue to me.
She hasn't seen someone as great as Jay since Jay Z's Baby Blue verse
Truely yours, don't let me down like Lennon,
She sincerely wants him to continue to be great and not disappoint her, like Lennon did
The greatest paid they sacrifices in they early beginnins.
The greatest people paid their sacrifices during their early beginnings
P.S. LL Rocked the Bell, now it's yo time,
He references LL Cool J's success and now it's Jay's turn
Your train's runnin off schedule, LOL Showtime.
He's saying that Jay's success is unexpected, but now it's prime time
I hear your name ringin, I feel the game changin,
His name is starting to get known and he's changing the game
Niggas know, every rhyme you spit,
Everyone knows that every rhyme he spits is amazing
Is like Rakim in his flags,
His rhymes are as great as Rakim's legendary verses
Spittin flames with his chain danglin.
His rhymes are fiery and powerful, like the chains that Rakim dangled
Barack Obama with his dame way out in Maine wranglin.
He's like a powerful leader, with his woman out in Maine handling business
The game'll swallow you if you ain't strong enough to make it follow you.
The industry and the game will devour you if you're not strong enough to make it follow your rules
I'd pack my bags and head home if I was you."
He would give up and go home if he were in Jay's position
So salute to the most honorable,
He salutes and admires Jay as the most honorable
MC, Abombinable,
Jay is like an unstoppable monster that destroys everything in his path as a great MC
Jay Electronica.
Jay Electronica is the subject of the song
Contributed by Vivian D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
The213pr0ductions
Jay Elects imagery always has amazed me
Carlos Montero
Was waiting for this to drop forever
max roper
“That’s when I turned from shrek the ogre, into master yoda” 😝😝.... pop-culture peppered metaphysics courtesy of jay electronica 👊
GoodxJ
Nobody does it better! #godemcee
J. Meb
I don’t get it can you explain
Ikechukwu or I. K.
I think he really does have an awe inspiring talent outside of rap!
Henry Muñoz
Nice! Thanks!
I think they're cleaning out the closet. It's like a non-standard roll-out for the album dropping September 19th. I think it's real, this time.
Reality Check
Henry Muñoz nah
tyty12m
@Reality Check we got got, again
Black Mamba
Damn you might be right hopefully in March