Feb
15How They Came Up: The Jay Electronica Story
Filed Under (How They Came Up) by FuNkwoRm on 15-02-2011
Tagged Under : How They Came Up, Jay Electronica
- Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- In ’96, after high school, left for Atlanta then traveled back and forth from New York, Detroit, and Baltimore, in pursuit of better opportunities for his music career.
- Jay was homeless several times times during this period, on the street and sleeping on the couches of friends while he pursued his dreams
- Jay says that genuine relationships with others was key to his networking success
- During his stay in Detroit, Jay met producer J Dilla through, D12 member and producer, Mr. Porter and friends. Jay then got permission to use Dilla’s instrumentals for his “Style Wars” EP released in 2007. Jay never actually got the chance to work with Dilla before he passed away.
- Jay began using the internet to distribute his music. Jay’s Mypace page , in particular, was where he started to build a following.
- It was when Jay released “Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge)” that Jay’s buzz really intensified. The song was a homemade recording of Jay raping over music, without drums, taken from a movie sound track.
- Jay’s known affiliations and collaborations with more established artists like Erykah Badu and producers like Just Blaze only helped to validate him and increase talk about him.
- Jay continued to release free singles and mixtapes. At this point, he started to become sort of an urban legend without ever having a commercial release
- After partnering up with music company Decon, Jay released 2 commercial singles produced by Just Blaze. They were Exhibit A and C.
- Exhibit C was top 10 on the iTunes Hip-Hop charts and named an “instant classic’ by MTV
- Jay has worked with, collabed with, and gained the respect of some of the biggest names in hip hop; all while remaining an independent artist without an album release.
- It wasn’t until November 2010 that Jay Electronica would sign an artist deal with Jay Z’s label, Roc Nation
When I [first started],…I was trying to [make music] for the people that pulled the strings [in the industry] to try to get accepted. Once I got frustrated and said “fuck this” and started doing it [my] way…things started opening up for me. – Jay Electronica
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This was a little bit more insightful than the previous installments. Although, really, Jay’s success came more from luck than hard work. Not to discredit his work at ALL, but I’m just saying that being in the right place at the right time was really critical at multiple stages in his career.
On some of the other ones, where it’s more about sort of really “breaking through” in a more traditional, indie sense, I thought you should have elaborated more on to how they specifically built buzz for each release. It seemed like you kind of jumped from, “Wiz was pretty much unknown,” into “Wiz released music online for free and then got popular.” What sites propelled his music outward? What specific strategies helped him gain recognition?
Just some thoughts on it. I do like the idea of doing case studies on how these artists gained their fanbase, though. I’ve had a similar idea many times.
Peace.
Reply to Tyler
Thanks for the feedback Tyler. There’s always a bit of luck involved in every success story but there’s no denying Jay’s talent which you fail to mention.
Being in the right places is strategic as well, and when you hear Jay tell his own story this is apparent, if you wish to accept it as truth.
As for this series of post, I struggle with trying to decide how much detail to add. I don’t want them to be essays. I want them to be highlights. I will take your critique into consideration though. In the case of Wiz, his success was largely a result of his local buzz that came about through battles and an indie label. I thought I made that clear. Hopefully these will get more informative for you in the future.
Reply to FuNkwoRm
I think I must have come off wrong, let me clarify.
I’m definitely NOT trying to take anything away from J.E. in any way shape or form. I think he’s an incredible artist and I don’t meant to discredit his talent at all. I just meant that his case, his connections really helped pulled him up, whereas the other artists that you highlighted weren’t necessarily as fortunate.
As for the series, sorry if I seemed rude or anything. Again, not my intention. I was just thinking out loud a bit, that it would be really cool to see a really detailed step-by-step breakdown of how some of these cats made their moves, where they got some breaks, what sort of media coverage really helped to boost them, etc.
Just my idea again, of doing the whole case study thing. I think that would be cool to do. But, if that’s not what this was meant to be, don’t feel obligated at all to change your content to suite my interests alone.
Reply to Tyler
I hear your point and thanks for the clarification, but the fortune you speak of, Jay wasn’t born with. We’re talking about a kid, from the ghettos of south, who left to find opportunity. In my opinion, he started out with much less than the previous artists i’ve posted.
These posts are meant to inspire. They won’t contain any magic formulas. The roads paved by these artists usually can’t be duplicated anyway. If Jay spent 5 hrs a day networking on Myspace that says volumes about his work ethic but the actual technique is not one you can apply.
And no need for apologies fam. I welcome all opinions and expressions here.
Reply to FuNkwoRm
YO what up funlworm. I love this series it keeps me wanting to continue making music even though i am getting kinda old 30 is knocking my way but todays story was pretty cool and i am glad that yu hih lighted Jay cause he is older than i am so thanks.
Reply to Lennox
You’re welcome Lennox. Good music is ageless fam. Major labels put up those barriers. That shit is no longer relevant. Just find your own voice and you’ll find an audience. Keep in touch and thanks for being a reader!
Reply to FuNkwoRm
Jay Electronica is a great artist…Aint it funny how great artist always bull shit around when it comes to putting out a album…Its like every day they wake up and say “Let me Make this Damn Album” but then they fire up the dro and just say fuck it and release a hot as track and live with that
Reply to Lamar
Reply to ThaTrunk.com
Jay Electronic is dope. A breath of fresh air when Hip Hop is in critical condition. The Hip Hop culture needs this type of variety to continue to thrive. Lack of variety and originality in Hip Hop is the main reason people say Hip Hop is dead.Keep up the good work Funkworm.
Reply to Jakpot
Reply to Qwiken McCrab
TMI…Thanks for spoiling my supper! Jay Elec is dope indeed.
Reply to FuNkwoRm
Reply to Dart_Adams
Every now and then I have to remind someone that these pieces are not biographies. Sure there are many gaps and transitional players intentionally left out, but most of this is compiled from Jay’s own words concerning what he considered the pivotal points of his career. Thanks for your excessive point-out of my typo too. By the way, you misspelled “Damn” the first word in your comment. It’s only the most popular word of condemnation in the English language!! It’s all good though fam. I appreciate when readers correct me or keep me accurate. Thanks for the feedback and I hope you stick around.
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Reply to FuNkwoRm