salute

all interviews by moi

“Too many people are touted as ‘a problem,’ or ‘coming to change the game’ in hip-hop, only to wind up as a footnote in the musical landscape. Jay Electronica is different. Maybe that’s the best way to describe him, different. A year ago there weren’t many people who would recognize the name Jay Electronica, but in the last 12 months, the mysterious New Orleans native has created a surprising, internet-based buzz, while still remaining mostly an enigma. From the 20 + tracks of his that infiltrated the net there are collaborations with Guilty Simpson and Mr. Porter, beats by the underrated Nottz as well as the legendary J Dilla (RIP). Yet even with such an impressive roster of collaborators, Jay shines undauntedly…”

an excerpt from an upcoming article in SHOOK, a hip hop magazine from the UK.

photo: jay

the year is almost over, and without a doubt i will remember the music of Jay Electronica as an unexpected highlight. the rest of the blogsphere seem to agree. so congratulations to Mr. Electrolysis, the movement is moving with over 30, 000 direct downloads from his myspace page, and who knows how many others from all over the internet. Still, that is the past and we’re looking towards the future.

 

 

Act II will arrive on Christmas day, with over 10 songs and 200mb in size. the music will be produced by Jay himself, Madlib Mr. Porter, Hi-Tek, Beat Autopsy and many more.

 

guest appearances by Nas and Guilty Simpson

videos and other assorted goodies.

 

2008 looks promising.

 

photo: jay

 

photo: jay

 

photo: Erykah Badu

 

photo: jay

 

photo: jay

photo: jay

Still, it must be noted that no one gets to where they are alone. Jay insisted that everybody following be mentioned and given the proper respects for their own individual contributions that have helped make Jay Electronica a reality.

“These people are me, not my team, not my crew or my posse.

They are Jay Electronica”

- Jay Electronica

photo: jay

Erykah Badu

“What Erykah is working on right now is so important not only to music, but to us as the human family of the planet Earth and the change that we’re moving towards as a people and as a civilization. She doesn’t know this is inside of her, but it will come out.

God has deposited something very special in her that will aid in establishing freedom justice and equality in the world for all of the human family. “

- Jay Electronica

Erykah: can you hear me?

Yes, yes. Can you hear me?

Erykah: Yes I can.

Most everyone has heard Act I and heard what you had to say about Jay, but can you talk a little bit about the impact that just musically, you had when you first heard jay.

 

Erykah: I wanted to start a record label, Control Freaq.

How quickly did the idea come to you?

 

Erykah: I think a week, about a week after I heard his music.

You’ve championed Jay as an MC, as the future of MCing, what is it that you feel Jay has

Erykah: He’s awake and he stays awake. What makes him the next thing is that he is progressive; he studies like he is in medical school. He studies music, period. He studies sonics and styles. The sound of music is pretty much the same all across the board when it comes to rap or hip-hop. Whatever it is that is in him that gives him the energy to move like he moves, it’s not the music that impresses me, it’s his mind really. There are millions of his atoms in my music; sometimes I think they are strategically placed there. He reflects himself in everyone and everything around him; he’s like a virus. His minds and his words and his thoughts, sometimes I feel like he’s straight from God.

 

Can you tell us anything about your upcoming projects?

 

Erykah: I’m working on Nu AmErykah. I’m watching everything, Nu Amerykah part one is basically a documentation of what’s happening right now, a clear documentation. Nu Amerykah part two is the solution.

What does that entail?

Erykah: It’s in frequencies; it all has to do with frequencies. It has a lot to do with life without powerlines.

 

Life without power lines? Can you elaborate on that a little bit?

 

Erykah: no. laughs, not really, not without the music. It’s a healing tool, the music that I use. You’ll have to forgive me; I’m a little tired right now.

photo: jay

photo: jay

Mike Chavarria

Chav: My name is Michael Chavarria, known as Mike Chav, Chav Guevera, Chav G. Right now I’ve been working on Erykah Badu’s new projects, which I’m really excited about. In the past I’ve worked on Dre’s Detox with Denaun Porter, playing guitar, playing bass, just doing whatever. Also, I’ve worked with people like J Dilla, Snoop, The Game, did production and some engineering on Game’s last album. Method Man records, Busta Rhymes record, the last Pharaoe Monch record, production, programming, mixing. D12, Eminem, 50 Cent, G-Unit, that’s where I started off, the Shady Records camp, Eminem, Obie Trice and all that.

How is it that you met Jay?

Chav: Well we have a mutual friend that spent a lot of time in Atlanta and met Jay there. I was working at Guitar Center at the time, around ’99 because studio work wasn’t steady yet and I needed to pay the bills. I always had aspirations, I was looking for a rapper, because my musical tastes are pretty broad and I wanted to find a dope ass rapper and make something new. So Johnnie and I built this studio together in Detroit and he would always tell me, since I met him, I know this cat from Atlanta and I don’t know where he is, but he is the dopest MC on the planet, and he’s going to be the one. So one day I was in the studio in Detroit and Johnnie’s like, Je’ri’s coming, and I ask who’s that and he tells me that’s the guy he was telling me about. Instantly, within the first few minutes of knowing him we knew this was going to be it, I think some of Jay’s first words were like, ah, this is going to be one of my best friends. He played me some music he was working on on a Triton, and it was incredible. When he first got to Detroit he stayed up for three days straight, and since that time on, we’ve been working. We’ve had our ups and downs but that’s initially how we met. It’s crazy too because the way he got to Detroit was so random, there happened to be this girl we knew from Detroit going to school out in where he was in Philadelphia and they met and somehow figured out they both knew Johnnie, he figured out how to get a hold of him and called him a day or two after, left his job and apartment in Philly and came to Detroit.

How did you meet Dilla?

Chav: Well, Johnnie had introduced me to Dilla. We call Johnnie the A&R of the city, he has the gift of people, he knows everyone and everywhere he goes people seem to love him. Him and Dilla had been cool for a minute and Dilla told him, I’m building this studio. At the time he had this label and recording deal with MCA and part of the deal was that they were gonna build him a studio, he had a major budget and he was going to get all his stuff from one place, but Johnnie was like nah, me and Chav can do that. So at that point, it took a long time to build, we contracted the designers, the acousticians, we picked some equipment, and we tried to make sure it was some next level stuff. At the time 2-inch reels was still the most popular choice, because people thought Pro Tools had a cold sound. So instead of using the regular Pro Tools stuff that people were using, I got him these special interfaces that cost about 10 G’s each as opposed to the Digi ones that cost about 2 G’s each, and they sounded that much better. He was able to still have that analogue quality within Pro Tools, which was a huge thing for him because his ear was so in-tune to frequency and warmth. This is around 2000, and we chose equipment that would make Pro Tools sound like it was analogue. I remember the first time I met Dilla, he was working on Like Water For Chocolate, he was in the studio on a real kick drum with a giant mallet. So when he got into this digital world, I taught him the basic things he needed to know to get around, but after that within a couple of months he had it mastered to the point where he could do what was in his head. When I saw what he was doing it was really some mind-blowing stuff and it’s definitely shaped the way I do things today as an engineer and he was a producer. Just the things he was doing with plug-in’s and the fact that he wasn’t locked into a tempo, he would do a lot of things live. He figured how to take what was in his head and manipulated Pro Tools to make things seem like they were alive and not a loop.

Wow. We could probably go on with these Dilla stories for a minute, but you met Jay through Johnnie after you build Dilla’s studio?

Yeah, this was around 2002, about a year after we built the studio. The year that George Bush was ready to go to war. We really connected on that too, that was one of the things between Jay and me. We had the same kind of ideas about that kind of thing when everyone kinda thought it was a good idea. We’ve been family ever since we’ve met.

How would you describe these past couple of years in which Jay has gotten more exposure and attention?

I would say it really feels like we’re doing what we always said we were going to do from the beginning. We always had a goal, and I feel like we took that goal and manifested it into reality, and it is really gratifying to see that people are really feeling the music in the way that we intended it to. We really couldn’t have imagined the response to the Eternal Sunshine thing, we hoped for something like that but we couldn’t quite gauge it. Jay’s always had that magic to him, I can’t say that everything from years ago are of quality to be released, but it’s great to see it turning into what we had envisioned on the terms we wanted it to be on. I don’t know what he hears or sees when he listens to music but I think that he listens for the magic, that’s what we always look for. It’s the feeling that you get, he has a way of tapping into emotions and feelings that I have not heard form anyone before. He knows when something’s right and when something isn’t right, and if it’s not right, he moves on to the next thing.

photo: jay

Brandon Beat Autopsy

“there is something in the water in Detroit. He is a young producer that comes from the same universal frequency that produced Dilla, Denaun, Black Milk Karriem Riggins Wajeed, etc.”

- Jay

9th Wonder

9th wonder: I’m coming out with my album The Wonder Years, and there’s a joint on there with Erykah and Jay.

What did you first think of Jay when you heard him?

9th wonder: I thought it was phenomenal. Erykah played it for me and I thought it was great.

What is it about him? It seems that everyone that hears about him refers to the music as refreshing…

9th wonder: It’s real honest. The music is real honest. From the songs I heard, that’s what made me want to do something, yeah. He’s one of the most slept on MC’s out right now. Like I said it’s honesty, no frills, just straightforward rhymes and that’s what I love about him.

photo: jay

Shafiq Husayn & Taz Arnold of SA-RA

Shafiq Husayn: this is Shafiq Husayn.

Taz: I’m Taz Arnold and Sa-Ra’s a performing group, a production collective and basically a life design entity. Along with cats like Jay and a small list of other cats, we’re putting our new images and new thought formats up for people.

How was it that your paths crossed with Jay?

Taz: We met Jay working with Badu at our studio in Silverlake about 2 years ago.

Can you try and describe you relationship with Jay?

Shafiq Husayn: put it like this, as far as his rhyming ability, the skill level is high but then actually getting to know him, he became part of the ox, one of the brothers.

Taz: we base our brotherhood not on emotion or a nationalistic pride, but on a different format, certain types of individuals who master their inner world, so they can master the outerworld. He’s one of the brothers, like Shyfeek said, one of the OX.

Work done with Jay?

Taz: I put it like this; there have been many lifetimes full of work that we’ve been building with this cat. Right now we’ve been feeding each other music, I catch him online, we’ll play him beats, he’ll come to the studio and we bout to go in and neutralize. We’re about to go in and start doing some songs together. Outside of doing tracks, we’re about to start going in with Jay and create a new thing for people, like a new language, people have never heard this type of language, not in this generation.

Is this music you’re referring to?

Taz: It’s outside of music, just waking up of minds, and cats trying to be progressive as intelligent individuals in the human experience. We are going to crack some codes and heal some people, as well as ourselves.

Just to catch people up who may have been sleeping, can you please let us know who you’ve worked with and what upcoming music you have set for release?

Shafiq Husayn: right off the bat, the Nuclear Evolution in the Age of Love, coming out on February or March on Ubiquity Records, 2008. That’s mainly a production album with our friends. We’ve worked with cats like Herbie Hancock, Bilal, Badu, Monch, Common, Dr. Dre, Kanye West, the late great John Coltrane, the late great Thelonius Monk, Medeski, Martin and Wood. It’s been a long list of people we’ve been working with in the past couple of years.

What is it about Jay that sets him apart from the rest of the world of rappers?

Taz Arnold: The man’s speaking that language that most people have never heard. We all speak that language. Jay is many different things, he is a scientist, a person that can transform thought, transform energy with words. a very important ability in this time, dealing with a lot of ancient histories and ancient mysteries and mix these things up to create a new world. That’s really at the core of that brotherhood that we’re talking about. It’s expressing, like Shyfeek says, the power of the one but the one is just the beginning. He’s a poet at that. It’s like a rainbow, a multitude of thoughts, emotions and it’s a mixture, and so he’s like a chemist, an alchemist.

Shafiq Husayn: He’s the prism; he’s the new prism.

Your influence has been spread without too much credit, how do you feel about that?

Shafiq Husayn: The EL is coming. They don’t know it’s going to be coming.

Shafiq Husayn: the best part of your imagination is coming.

Taz: there is a new era that is here amongst us all and we are a part of that. That within itself is a very exciting announcement and I don’t think people have connected the dots yet. It is very exciting; it’s a force, not to be reckoned with, but to behold.

Jay Electronica: we give all praises due to God, and I personally thank Erykah supremely for even allowing my path to cross with my brothers that I haven’t seen for the past 76 trillion years.

photo: jay

Eevin P. Wright “The Guv’nor” & Michael ‘Big Mike’ Knight

 

“The Guv’nor has an album coming which will surpass and shatter any pre-disposed expectations anyone might have of a Texas artist”

 

- Jay Electronica

 

what did you think of the music when you first heard it?

‘Big’ Mike: The music is great. That’s why I had to search him out, because of the music.

How soon did you guys decide to work together?

‘Big’ Mike: Well, immediately.

What are you trying to do with Jay?

‘Big’ Mike: Get records done and cut the deals .The deals are there, we’re just waiting on Jay to say what he really wants.

D Prosper

Can you introduce yourself real quick?

D Prosper: Yeah, I’m D Prosper. A&R for G Unit formerly, I was there for like five years. I’m managing Hi Tek right now, Jake One, Frequency, Black Jerus, a bunch of people.

You’ve mentioned quite a list of cats, how does Jay fit in with all that?

D Prosper: Jay is the next chapter, the new beginning. As you progress and knowing music, there’s only two types of music, good and bad. With that said, good music needs to get out to the people and it’s just sad that the industry has allowed itself to fall on its face and not allowed certain artists like Jay Electronica or deadprez and a bunch of people that have a message, not allowed those artists to get to the people. It feels like its warfare out here, us against the beast.

What struck you most about Jay when you first discovered him?

D Prosper: The kid had lyrics, he inspired me. He sounded like something fresh and new, I felt like when I first heard my favorite rapper.

What is your role in the Jay Electronica movement?

D Prosper: I’m part of a consciouness that wants to get good music out, I’m just a spoke in the wheel. I’m a collective part of the management side of bringing things to the table and making sure Jay gets his right due. That incorporates a lot of things, so I’m just a spoke in the wheel, making it turn.

Do you think people are ready for it?

D Prosper: Of course, it’s fresh. The kid got thirty thousand downloads with no promotional team, or marketing strategy or business anything, just the people. The people are fiending right now for some good shit, and it’s the best time because technology has allowed artists like Jay to get directly to the people. They’re smart consumers now, they get so much music for free so if they’re going to pay it has to be an artists of substance, and that’s what Jay is.

 

Ringo “Tumbling Dice” Smith

Can you talk a little bit about your track record in the game?

Tumbling Dice: yeah, sure. I’m a young cat out of Brooklyn, New York and how I got into music is when I was in junior high school and high school, I would ditch school and go into the music stores around the Times Square area. I couldn’t afford any of the drum machines at that time so I would spend hours in there learning how to use the machines. I used to see a lot of cats that at the time were doing real well around there, like Al B. Sure or Kurtis Blow and I would be in the store like, yeah I make beats. Eventually I met a girl that was part of a group that was signed to Uptown at that time and came up to me like, I like what you doing, I like your style, if I buy you this drum machine, will you make some beats for me? Basically I did it and got to keep the machine, so the SP 1200 was the first drum machine I had. Then some time passed, and a friend of mine invited me to go to a Def Jam party and that’s where I met Rakim. They were working on their last album as Eric B and Rakim so here I am as a young kid and I said to this man, look, I make beats, I got some good beats. So he was like, allright cool, here’s my number, let me hear what you got. So I called him the following day and I played some beats over the phone and he got hype, had me come to the studio. This is when he used to live in Manhattan on 23rd street, and I stayed at his house everyday and told my mother I ain’t going back to school because I’m rolling with Rakim. Of course she got mad at me, but I ended up doing half of the album. Large Professor did the other half. Remember, at this point, I’m 19, 20 years old and I’m hanging with Rakim and the next thing I know, I meet puffy. Rakim introduces me to Puffy like this is my little producer, I know you’ve been looking for people to work with you while you’re at Uptown Records, you might want to work with him.

So this is before Bad Boy?

Tumbling Dice: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was rolling with Puffy when Puffy was still an A&R. I’m the first guy he ever had working with him, I was basically his hands. So I basically started rolling with Puffy, I wanted to take my production to the next level I didn’t really know how to play keys that well. Still don’t know too much but I know how to cheat a little using Logic or Pro Tools or whatever I gotta do. So I said I needed a liaison, a keyboard guy because I wanted to expand my work. I hooked up with this cat that was working with Puff already, he’s a keyboard player by the name of Aron Marshall. We did a lot of R&B records, a lot of work on Mary J. Blige’s albums, Jodeci, B.I.G., and a lot of other cats. After doing the Biggie record One More Chance, I hooked up with LL from there, then Bustah came along. Bustah used to come to my house everyday and be like, I’m about to break out from this group but I need you to help me do this album. We came up with Whoo Haa. The Doin’ It beat was supposed to be Biggie’s first record coming back after the first album. That was supposed to be his first single. What Puff did was, he took too long to pay me, I was having some financial difficulties. So I was sitting on these beat ideas that Big and me had come up with, and LL was like, let me hear them beats. At first I was like, I’m not even supposed to play that, then after a minute I was like, whatever, let me do what I need to do. As soon as he heard the beats, he bought them right away and he paid me top dollar too. That’s why on the Doin It song with LL, on the background you hear, Go Brooklyn! Go Brooklyn!, that was a Biggie beat. They called me right after I sold the beats, it must have been someone at the studio called Puffy or called Big and said, yo that beat you was writing to the other day, LL in here about to record it. So BIG called me right away, mad as hell like, what’s the deal. He was just pissed, talking all kinds of shit, like, how you gonna give my beats away. I said, look, I’ve been waiting for y’all to send this little measly 10 thousand dollar check, and it hasn’t come. LL’s offering me 25 g’s a beat, I was like, yo, I gotta eat! Then Puff called and they were on three-way with me, screaming at the top of their lungs like, you need to tell LL we need them beats back. I couldn’t do that, so it got really crazy. BIG didn’t talk to me for awhile and was mad at me to the point where he wanted to knock my head off every time he saw me in Brooklyn.

Damn.

Tumbling Dice: Yeah it got to that point because these records were supposed to be his first new singles off the Life After Death album. I can understand why he was mad.

Who else have you worked with?

Tumbling Dice: Queen Latifah, Organized Konfusion, Mary J. Blige, Bustah, Erykah Badu, 50 Cent, Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown, Salt-n-Pepa, Seal, The Spin Doctors, shit man, the list goes on.

Getting to Jay, everyone that I’ve spoken to pretty much says that they’ve met Jay through you. How is that you met Jay?

Tumbling Dice: through Sol Messiah, a DJ/Producer from Atlanta that worked with Dallas Austin and his claim to fame was working with TLC, doing scratches and some additional production. He was telling me about this brother, he had worked with him in the past and he just said how if we got together it’d be magic. Soon as I met Jay, I loved the brother right on the spot, like this is just a cool dude. I want to maintain a relationship with him and that’s exactly what we did, we’ve been friends ever since.

How long ago was this?

Tumbling Dice: This was about four years ago. The first months seemed like a lifetime to me though, we blood brothers. If I don’t speak to that man for 2 years, it’s all good, when we see each other we’re still gonna be laughing and talking about old times and it’s gonna be great. That’s what I love about that brother. If you could get that same kinda feeling from somebody everytime you with them, wether you made at them or not, but you get that cool feeling everytime you see each other then it’s gonna be like fuck it, that’s my man, that’s my dude and I know he’s always gonna have my back. I’m speaking genuinely right now.

Being that you’ve been a part of Jay for a while, how have you seen these last three or four years as far as Jay’s evolution?

Tumbling Dice: He’s made a giant progression in his music, in his own swagger, I think it’s great and I think he’s growing more and more every day and it can only get better. One thing I see about him is that he can experiment with different things, like most of these artists that walk back and forth across this stage, it’s not impressive but Jay wants to do theatrical stuff. Stuff that’s not really done in hip-hop, and I think it’s a great idea. He’s the new Ali, he reminds me of Muhammad Ali.

Do you think people are ready for what Jay’s bringing?

Tumbling Dice: Did people think they were ready for someone like Outkast? Did people think they were gonna be ready for NWA? People are always ready for something new.

You’ve been privy to a lot of music being in the inner circle, how would you describe Jay’s upcoming music for those of us that haven’t heard it?

Tumbling Dice: Innovative. I look at the music, and that might sound weird, like the Maxell picture of the man blown away from the music because it’s so powerful. Do you know the picture I’m talking about? The famous Maxell picture? The Maxell logo…

 

Oh, the one with the dude sitting on the couch, his tie’s blowing back, I see what you mean.

Tumbling Dice: That is a visual image of what I’m talking about.

Guilty Simpson

“Guilty and I are like partners in rhyme, that man is my brother and he is Detroit to the fullest.”

- Jay Electronica

photo: jay

FWMJ

How did you first meet Jay?

FWMJ: I ran into Jay doing some nerdy web design crap on a message board for a graphic design community I’ve been a part of since the late 90s. If the name didn’t give it away, Jay is a geek.

What struck you most about Jay at first?

FWMJ: what struck me most about Jay, besides being a rapper that actually has great taste in beats, and also has access to these great beats, and beside the fact that he can actually rap goodder than a mug, and the fact that hearing a good rapper over good beats is nearly an impossibility anymore as more and more rappers decide to rely on the annoying concept that is ’swagger’ and their wardrobe person and the beats smash, or the rapper is ridiculous and the beats are ass–Jay isn’t afraid to be good at the sport that is making rap music, but also address what I guess would be considered typically nerdy subject matter, and he still makes it come off cool. It’s kind of a freedom thing for a black man to be serious and possess that innate cool factor that ‘the other’ will automatically attribute to us, for example the token black guy in the room is automatically cooler than anyone else there, and at the same time reference obscure knowledge and be into web design and not come across as pretentious. Another great thing about Jay is he’s from New Orleans, the south, and is spittin’ better than just about everyone out or coming out, and also saying something. So often you’ve got heads complaining about content in songs and how the south isn’t giving you any. Basically, if i was a rapper, Jay Electronica is one of the rappers I’d probably sound like. Except my voice don’t sound as cool.

How does it feel to be the person who unleashed Jay to the world via your site, rappersiknow.com? i mean you posted songs by Jay way back in 2005, before anyone else.

FWMJ: well, I don’t know how it feels really. I mean, my whole mission with rappers I know has been to give a platform to music i personally feel needs to be paid attention to. It was complete chance that I ran into Jay where I did, and I guess he was surprised that I actually knew who he was.
it’s not really so much about taking credit for getting him out there, I’m just glad for once people agree with what I know is dope. It sometimes feels like people don’t remember what good rap music sounds like.

Mr. Porter

“he is one of the best producers in the world, quote me and Dr. Dre on that”

– Jay Electronica

photo: jay

Ethiopian Mick (of Greedy Genius…in the red glasses)

How did you come in contact with Jay?

Ethiopian Mick: Through my cousin, we ended up being good friends and he ended up shooting our last lookbook, after becoming family and seeing that Jay was ill with the photography.

What is that you love about what Jay’s doing?

Ethiopian Mick: Just the fact that he’s bringing a consciousness back to the music. He’s bringing a cultural relevance back to the music and still keeping it fun and futuristic and original.

What is that you see Jay doing?

Ethiopian Mick: I see him changing the face of what hip-hop is. A lot of people are saying hip hop is dead, hip hop is this or that, and Jay having the love for the music and the culture, he was one of those people that said ‘hip-hop’s not dead, its right here.’ He’s taking it and shape-shifting it into what he wants.

What does Greedy Genius stands for and how does it goes hand in hand with what Jay’s doing?

Ethiopian Mick: For sure. For us, Greedy Genius stands for independence and creativity. We all come from larger corporations in terms of design, and Greedy Genius is a chance for all of us to go independent. We’ve taken long terms relationships and knowledge of our craft and all the elements that go into the style and everything, and ran with it independently with no compromise. I feel like what we do on the creative design signs mirrors what Jay’s doing, a platform of expression with no compromise.

 

Andy Dufraine aka Clutch Johnson

What was your introduction to Jay?

Clutch Johnson: my introduction was through Just. I was just there, one day at work in the studio, and this dude comes through, kind of unassuming guy. The more and more I hear his work the more intrigued I become by the thoughts and ideas in his work. He has a vision and I dig it, I dig everything from the man.

Jay Electronica: Just for the record, I want it to be known that Andy Dufraine, aka Clutch Johnson is one of the best producers you’ve never heard but you will hear much from him in the year 2008.

Clutch Johnson: I appreciate that; I look forward to that as well.

You mention Jay’s vision, what is it that is so much different in Jay’s music as opposed to other rappers?

Clutch Johnson: Maybe it’s that he’s more open-minded, he has a wider vision than most people. I think it’s through his own life experiences, which definitely helps in giving you a wider spectrum of ideas and what you can talk about. You hear a lot of other people and it’s very young sounding, they don’t have those life experiences. Jay’s music has more substance underneath it.

 

photo: jay

Young Guru

Young Guru’s Discography

How you did you meet Jay?

Young Guru: it wasn’t necessarily through Just. He was coming up here to see Just but I heard of him before I met him.

How did you first hear of him?

Young Guru: through hearing his underground stuff and then realistically, the first time I really realized who he was when he was in The Source.

Jay Electronica: Why Guru is so important to my formation is because I used to go to Baseline all of the time, and Guru would be talking about, “you need to just stop rhyming, there’s no point, hip-hop is dead.’ But he’s like one of those wise master teachers that are teaching you and you don’t even know it. He put the fire under me to prove to him personally, that hip-hop is not dead.

What made you feel that way Guru?

Young Guru: It was me being facetious to a certain degree, because saying that, knowing who I am and that I love real hip hop, its out of frustration with the current climate. It’s the feeling of fuck it, I might as well not even try to make real joints. But Jay, he’s so good people ain’t even gonna get it, his attitude as I’m gonna be the one to prove to you that, people still buy into good hip hop. What drew me towards him in terms of liking him was the creativity, everybody does the same format over and over again so the creativity is the first thing that stands out and that’s also a reason why people might not know how dope it is or give it 2 seconds of a listen because its so dope. I think his attitude is I’m going to make them understand that people still enjoy good, creative hip hop that’s not formulated.

Have you been surprised at all by the positive reactions to Jay’s stuff in the past year or so?

Young Guru: One level yeah, but another level no because I know how dope he is. It’s more of a realization like, oh the people got that one, I’m glad they got it because you know what’s there but it’s always are the people gonna get it? The response is like ok, now you’re starting to see it, now is the fertile time when people are starting to recognize. I called Jay a couple of times about a deal, I won’t say with who and the response he gave me was kinda dope because he was like, I don’t necessarily want a deal right now, let me get so outrageous that there’s no way you won’t have a bidding war or fight over this material. And that is the kind of insight and understanding he has on where to take it, on the underground level, because most people presented with any deal would just sign a deal, that’s what most MC’s want, to be signed and put out an album. He’s more like, ok, I’m going to take this to the point where the public is going to tell people they need to sign me. That’s what you’re seeing now, the recognition of people outside your circle. Because if I say something, but people know I know him personally, they might just see it as me championing my man and blahzay blahzay, but when you get the random kid from Ohio on the blog saying the shit is dope, it makes a bigger impact.

David Brown aka DB Cooper

photo: jay

Sean D

photo: jay

Dan Solomito (of Kidz In The Hall)

What was your introduction to Jay and what is it that grabbed your attention most?

Dan Solomito: Just Blaze was actually the first one to play me Jay Electronica and I was immediately struck by the vocal tone, then by the content. I was blown away, and at the time I didn’t know much about him. Long story short I moved to Atlanta for a year, while I was there I met this cat named Sol Messiah, and I started talking to him about different cats that we liked. Then I start talking about this cat that I can’t get out of my head named Jay Electronica, and Sol Messiah starts laughing, saying how he knew Jay and had worked with him from the jump. So Sol dug into his stash and got me a CD with about 15 songs on it, and I must have played that everyday for about 5 or 6 months. I ended up back in New York in a studio, and this cat is in the studio with us, he walks up and leaves and Just says to me, ‘you’re not gonna say whatsup to your boy?’ I ask him what he’s talking about and he tells me that that is Jay Electronica and that was it.

What are your predictions for Jay?

Dan Solomito: He’ll start by taking over the world. Once he’s running the world, I’ll ask for a favor, you know? Maybe a decent looking girl, a little island, something like that. When the time is right, Jay’s gonna take over the world.

photo: jay

Just Blaze

how’s it going?

Just: everything is all right, we just trying to get this album off to mastering tomorrow.

Jay Electronica: all the people that have been waiting on the Saigon album, all they’re expectations will be met.

Just: it’s coming out better than I thought it was going to, I can’t front. I knew it’d be decent, but …

Jay Electronica: Also, me and Saigon got a project coming out, produced exclusively by Just Blaze, called Hiroshima.

Can you mention the extent of your involvement with Jay’s stuff. I know it’s more than someone you just do beats for.

Just Blaze: When me and Jay talk, it’s not even about anything music related for the most part. It’s like family. I’ve probably only known him like 2 years but sometimes with certain people, you don’t need to know them for a long time to click with them like that. Really most of all, when he had mentioned something about Quetzalcoatl, something that most people don’t even understand or know the meaning of or know who that is, just the fact that he would mention that in his rhymes shows that he’s onto something else. For us the relationship is a musical one, and its also a friendship and sometimes it turns into a sensei student type thing where I’m teaching him. With certain things, I try to pass on as much knowledge to him on the music business sense, but then he turns around and ends up passing so much knowledge to me on the everyday life and spirituality sense. It’s like a continuous cycle of learning. I have a few friends, but I don’t have a lot of friends that I’ve learned from though. I’ve done so much in my life because I started so young, but a lot of times when you start that young, you miss out on a lot of life experiences because you hole yourself up to this existence as artists and producers and things like that. A lot of times certain little things he’ll say will open up my eyes to things I didn’t realize about myself.

Personally, I can definitely say that lines like the Quetzalcoatl one you mentioned earlier are the kinds of things that drew me to his music. There’s not a lot of people that understand a reference like that, but when you do get it it’s that much more rewarding.

Just Blaze: exactly, even up till now, I think he’s just really starting to discover who he is and what his purpose in this music is about. You gotta think, the music you were listening to six months ago, we’ve been listening to for four years. It’s been almost like a search to try to find himself, to a degree, I don’t know if he would agree with that or if he would see it like that. I mean you look at certain records like ‘This Is For My Country’…

Jay Electronica: They never even heard that before.

Just Blaze: It’s like, you spoke the truth in a lot of those records. You take a record like I Feel Good, it’s a good record and it’s a little bit more in tune with what radio’s doing aesthetically and sound wise, but he’s rapping about the fact that he feels good that his grandma’s turned 73. It’s a different twist. I think he was still trying to find the right mix of still being himself while appealing to people. I think when he really just said forget all that, and stopped making attempts to fit in, and the true self came out, as we’ve witnessed over the past year, year and a half, that’s when we’ve seen everything started to come full circle. I’m going to do me, and that’s something that a lot of rappers don’t understand. I was in an argument with someone today over a recording session, where it’s like, instead of being yourself, you’re rapping about the same five subjects you’ve rapped about over the past four albums. After a while no one’s going to buy into that because they’re not witnessing any growth. With Jay, in the past three years or so, it’s been nothing but that and it’s to the point where it’s getting kinda scary because now it’s starting to happen faster. You grow from ages 0 to 11 and it’s a steady rate, then when you hit 14 or 16, you’ve grown three times in body size and body weight, I feel like what we’re about to witness is that, for him. I think a lot of rappers are going to have to step their game up, not even just your rhymes, but who you are as a person.

Jay Electronica: Let me interject real quick while he’s talking about MC’s, because Just is a humble dude and he’s never going to mention this himself, we’ve done records together, I’m talking about with him rhyming. You can quote me on this; Just Blaze is one of the best MC’s living right now. He will eat an MC.

Just Blaze: I can’t believe you put that out there…

Jay Electronica: Don’t make me say your rhymes!

Can you describe the upcoming music from Jay?

Just Blaze: earth-shattering.

Johnnie Audible, respect.

Born Righteous aka Sdq™, respect.

 

a very special thank you to Michael Chavarria Michael Knight, Dan Solomito (of Kidz In The Hall) and Johnny Audible,

 

Chav has recorded with the best and he is THE BEST engineer in the western hemisphere in my opinion.

 

and I would never record with anyone outside of him,

 

aside from Young Guru, Alex Merzin, David Brown, and Andy Dufraine aka Clutch Johnson

 

Control FreaQ forever

 

freeing the slaves and the slavemasters

 

peace

 

- Jay

also coming in 2008…

Act III

the debut album from New Orleans’ own, Jay Electronica.

with 100% of Jay’s profits going towards helping displaced residents of the Magnolia housing projects.

Jay Electronica/9th Wonder project

“Big Brother (as in George Orwell, not LB)”

production by Jay Electronica and 9th Wonder, coming in January

Jay Electronica/Guilty Simpson

“Guilty As Charged”

production by 9th Wonder, Madlib, Black Milk, Dilla, Just Blaze and Mr. Porter, coming in March

Jay Electronica/DOC project

details unknown. lyrics to be written by DOC and MC’d by Jay Electronica.

also,

Jay Electronica is currently pursuing Lil Wayne in order to collaborate on a Crescent City Connection project.

“salute to Lil Wayne, I’m proud of that soldier”