A WRITTEN TESTIMONY X JAY ELECTRONICA

And we are back with our sixteenth official review! As promised, the below are our metrics for our reviews. To see our previous review of IN BANK WE TRUST X BANKROLL FRESH, click here.

A WRITTEN TESTIMONY X JAY ELECTRONICA

Release Date: 3.13.20

Number of Tracks: 10

Duration: 39

Favorite Track: Universal Solider, A.P.I.D.T.A.

This review will also break from the normal format, as we have waited for this album for over ten years. So opposed to a traditional review, we will simply take some time to talk about the album from both a rap purist aspect, and as fans of Jay Electronica.  

The year was 2009, and a young Oracle was just minding his business. It was a simpler time- all I had to do was go to school, go to practice, and stay out of trouble. My first year of college had not really gone the way I wanted it to, so I spent a lot of time doing what I normally would. The game Fight Night Round 4 was just released, and I was spending time working on my boxer when I heard on of the coldest beats I had ever heard, along with this bar:

“You can find the Christ where the lepers and the lames at.”

The name of the song? Exhibit A, from one Jay Electronica.

At the time, the market was dominated with the rise of Drake, J.Cole, Big Sean, Kid Cudi, Wiz Khalifa, and Wale. Talent wise, Lil Wayne was at the height of his powers, and with his creation of the Young Money label the ensuing arms race to sign the class of new school rappers was a hotly contested one. Drake went to Young Money, Big Sean and Kid Cudi went to Kanye’s Good Music, and Wale went to Rick Ross’s MMG. J Cole however went to Jay Z’s Roc Nation, which would find hip-hop Mogul Jay Z furthering his brand.  

I stopped what I was doing in game and searched the soundtrack for the song to find the above name, and upon further research, found out that Exhibit A was a certified instant classic. The follow up to Exhibit A, came in the form of Exhibit C, which is the track that most people who know of Jay Electronica are familiar with. It too was a certified instant classic, and the unprecedented success found Jay Elec signed to Roc Nation along with J Cole. With his mixtape “What The F*uck is a Jay Electronica,” and the ensuing hype, along with a relationship with Erykah Badu, Jay was primed for an album release.

Our friends over at Grits & Gospel called Jay Elec “a ghost,” because his album never did release, and he was seemingly gone just as quickly as he had arrived.

To explain this, I would have to explain the nature of the rap industry at that time. The year 2009 was still dominated by the old school rules of rap albums, which meant there clearly defined, itemized things that had to happen in order for an artist to put out an album. Those rules went something like this:

-        First the artist would have to generate a wave with a song or freestyle.

-        Then, the wave had to be followed up with a free mixtape to further the buzz around the artist.

-        Once the artist had a buzz, if it was enough, they would be signed to one of the afore mentioned labels, that would grant them the funding for better production.

-        To ensure that the label got their return on their investment, they needed to see a radio hit.

-        The radio hit would ensure that enough buzz was generated for the album, building confidence for the label that they would allow for an album release.

Jay Z is an old school rapper, and as the head of Roc Nation, he needed to see that radio hit from Jay Electronica. He did not, and therefore an album was not released.

While he still remained signed to Roc Nation, a non-album release seemed to be the fate of Electronica as year after year passed with nothing more in terms of new music as a single here, or a feature there.

He seemed perfectly fine with this too, as what can be gathered from his personality is that he is not interested in fame, nor mainstream success.

Elec’s raps are extremely polarizing- very pro-black and riddled with Nation of Islam and Muslim terminology. His cadence is smooth and consistent, but can be sometimes tagged as uninspired, as his voice hardly ever changes. Finally, the manner in which he would go about his raps were different as well, often electing to rap over movie scores as opposed to traditional beats. And while the last point is ultimately ingenious, people are naturally resistant to change, and as a result, the average rap fan likely has never heard of Jay Electronica.

Hip hop heads know however, that it is hard to mention bars without Jay Elec’s name being one of them.

From cryptic posts to storied, drunken tweets, eleven years have passed, but the album is finally upon us.

The latest post was, “My debut album featuring Hov… man this is highway robbery.” And this matched well as the rumors surrounding the album were that Jay Z was heavily involved, however the extent was not known.

The album starts with an intro that builds hype and is consistent with what Jay Electronica stands for, but it is simply a recording, and Elec’s voice is not heard. That is one track down off an already short album.

Disappointment #1.

The intro leads into the first actual song on the album, where I was fully expecting to hear Elec take off into the raps he owed his fans. Instead, it was Jay Z’s voice I heard first. I like Jay Z just fine, but this was not a Hov album. In fact, Jay Z doesn’t even have any credit on the album.

Disappointment #2.

The next tracks ride, but then the song, “Shiny Suit Theory,” comes up. This track from 2012 had long since been leaked, and heard multiple times over the course of 8 years. The differences in both Hov and Elec’s voices are quite noticeable. The track feels out of place again burns yet another track off the album.

Disappointment #3.

That wraps it up for disappointments however, because outside of that, from the production to the raps, Jay Electronica’s debut album featuring Hov is an absolute masterpiece. From the production to the raps, each of the remaining 8 tracks ride the wave. Some argue that Hov’s presence on each track eclipsed Elec, however I disagree. I think the opposite. In my opinion, there is no clear winner between the two, however the pressure of having one of the greatest ever on the track really elevated Jay’s raps. Production wise, Alchemist and Swizz Beatz do an outstanding job, and perfectly compliment the tandems cadence.

It is late March, 2020, and it goes without saying everything the world is going through right now, as it has literally come to a stop, right on the heels of the death of one of the most storied stars of all time in Kobe Bryant. If there ever was a soundtrack to all that we are going through, A Written Testimony is certainly it.

The Oracle awards the album a perfect 8 out of the qualifying 8 tracks, and calls it a must listen for your quarantine rotation.

To fully understand where we are coming from on this- you will simply have to listen for yourself.

3.27.2020 – The Oracle