" title="Droppin' Science"> Droppin' Science

Jay Electronica swept onto the hip hop scene in a wave of enigma late last decade. The effect of his quirky, emotional sound was compounded by the erratic methods of their release, drifting out unannounced via the internet – the Myspace leak of Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge), a fifteen minute opus laced with movie samples and beatless film soundtracks, represented the beginning of an astounding surge of interest in both the man and his music, back in 2007. Since then, the New Orleans-born MC and producer has garnered heavy support from everybody from Nas to Gilles Peterson, and has worked heavily with soulslinger Just Blaze, dropping two instant neo-backpack classics, Exhibit A and Exhibit C. Only recently he partnered with New York-based “idea studio” Decon, working on his debut album as well as a video project with label founder Jason Goldwatch. With more anticipation around his Act II track than the rest of hip hop’s class of ‘10 combined, and another project with fellow supa emcees Mos Def and Curren$y in the making, the future couldn’t look brighter for Jay. To paraphrase his recent collaboration with Talib Kweli und Hi-Tek: he’s only just begun.

I headed down to the Jazz Cafe last Wednesday to witness hip-hop’s fastest rising star of the moment, Jay Electronica.

I rocked up just in time to catch the end of Eglo record’s Fatima’s set, her voice sounding just as powerful live as it is on wax. If ya don’t know, check out her track ‘kleer‘ produced by Funkineven, & preview her incredible-sounding forthcoming ep here featuring Dam Funk. Next up K-lashnekoff performed a short set including classics such as ‘Murder‘ & his take on ‘Welcome to Jamrock‘ – a few embarrassing slips aside (forgetting the lyrics to his new single probably wasn’t a career highlight) -he was a welcome surprise, & reminded me just how powerful his voice & flow are, I’ll definitely be checking for his new LP out soon.

After K-Lash there was a good hour & a half wait ’til the main act.. I heard many impatient comments from the audience, but I was personally happy as a pig in shit wildin’ out to a killer set by Benji B – a fine choice of underground hip hop classics (big props to anyone dropping ‘The Enemy‘ by Big L & Fat Joe), some funk/disco rarities & a good half hour of well-chosen Dilla productions.

And so on to the man of the moment, Jay Electronica eventually stepped to the stage fully suited up, & proceeded to give one of the finest performances I’ve heard for a long time to be delivered by a simple MC & DJ combo (not that the dj did much!). His delivery was clear, his energy was as up as you’d expect from a man riding the wave of newly found stardom, the crowd was super hyped, & dude straight killed it. I was much-relieved to discover him to be as great a performer as he is an MC, & would probably make a half-decent comedian, offering shots of jack to nearby punters, & getting away with asking all the ladies in the house to make noise if they enjoy a little mild choking during sex! Jay performed a dope selection of his material, but of course Exhibit’s A & C were the joints that really shut it down, with most of the crowd rapping along to the whole tracks (big up London for knowing our shit!). If he makes a return to these shores anytime soon, don’t miss out.

Peep the video above, taken from the second night’s performance (& pinched with love from DJ Semtex’s blog) for a taste – & download his recent ‘Victory’ mixtape free of charge here.