![]() It’s produced mostly by him, with contributions from people in the Roc Nation orbit: AraabMuzik, Hit-Boy, Swizz Beatz, The Alchemist, No I.D., Travis Scott, James Blake, James Fauntleroy, and The-Dream. But Jay Electronica is such a complicated artist and individual that A Written Testimony serves as a condensed history of him, layered with references to his New Orleans upbringing, his Muslim faith, and Allah’s blessings. The rate of new releases is so high that listeners rarely sit with one album, digesting its meanings for a longer duration. Just under 40 minutes, A Written Testimony drops during the streaming era, where a hip-hop album cycle can barely last a week. When the album hit TIDAL exclusively after midnight, listening with other Jay Elec heads felt like a shared experience – tweeting favorite bars, dissecting them, and praising the genuine chemistry between Jay-Z and Jay E. It encouraged us to tune into his livestream on YouTube and Instagram from the studio, while the nation was instructed to self-quarantine, watching Jay play the entire album from front to back. On March 12, 2020, TIDAL canceled Jay’s fan listening events that were supposed to be held in Los Angeles, New York, and New Orleans due to the growing impact of COVID-19 across the country. But maybe he was the light we needed right now. There is no way Jay would drop something so important to him during the early height of a global pandemic. On top of familiar feelings of disappointment, the general stress and anxiety around the Coronavirus disease affecting the world casted more doubt. Like every other time, we waited to see if it was true. Once again, Just Blaze, a name you can trust, retweeted Electronica and asked his followers: “Are you watching closely?” “ My debut album featuring Hov man, this is highway robbery,” he wrote, creating speculation that the duo made a Watch the Throne- style joint album. 26, 2019, it was titled A Written Testimony and teased major contributions from Jay-Z. Recorded over 40 days and 40 nights, starting on Dec. ![]() 7, 2020, Jay told his followers on Twitter that the album was done. But everybody knows a debut album provides the answer to the burning question every MC faces: Did you live up to the expectations? It cements a legacy, and for Jay, the unspoken pressure comes from delivering a project that gets him comfortable enough to drop another. Jay could have skated by without releasing an album for the rest of his career. ![]() Cole, Talib Kweli, and Jay-Z at the 2014 Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival, and maintained his relevance with loosies from his MySpace days and guest verses (Big Sean’s “Control,” Miller’s “Suplexes Inside Of Complexes and Duplexes”). Yet, he still performed, created incredible live experiences, like the time he brought out the late Mac Miller, J. Jay-Z’s prized signee, who Hov called a “wizard” at Manhattan’s The Box nearly ten years ago, couldn’t find his moment. So fans daydreamed about the possibilities behind his potential. Just when you think Jay’s train has finally reached its destination on his personal journey, he decides to continue on in an infinite loop.Īs Electronica told Billboard in 2017, he would only drop an album if Minister Louis Farrakhan told him to and if he was “ at a place where I’m pleased with the offering.” He added that “an album is a false concept anyway” and that he wasn’t “really handcuffed to the concept of that.” Fans realized Act II was probably never coming after he shared a proposed tracklist that featured Ronald Reagan, Kanye West, and Puff Daddy. Growing up in the Magnolia Projects in New Orleans, Electronica was known as a nomad, moving city to city in search of artistic fulfillment. Even though Just confirmed its existence ( “I’ve got it right here in my pocket” ), he continued to take Jay at his word when he said his train was running on schedule. In every Just Blaze interview where he spoke about Jay Electronica’s album, it was a variation of the same answer: you might get it, you might not. That bond produced “Exhibit A (Transformations)” and “Exhibit C” - two autobiographical songs from 2009 that were circulated on the internet - and he became one of the most talked about rappers with no commercial release to his credit. He believed Jay was a risk-taker, and someone who wanted to push culture forward, instead of repeating history. Just not only connected with Jay like he was his brother, but also in a spiritual and artistic way.
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