![]() Over the course of the decade, Electronica earned a reputation as a bit of a recluse, as he occasionally collaborated with artists including Kweli, Curren$y, and Big Sean (where he was overshadowed by Kendrick Lamar’s now-iconic verse on “Control”) but largely remained out of the public eye. However, their anticipation waned with every year that passed without its release. In 2012, a tracklist for Act II emerged, and after multiple songs began to surface, fans held out hope the album was soon to follow. The official title of the Eternal Sunshine-inspired track described it as Act I-a reference to Michael Caine’s monologue in the aforementioned Nolan film where he outlined the three stages of every magic trick-and after Jay-Z brought him aboard, all signs pointed to him following up his breakthrough song with a debut album called Act II. In 2010, Electronica teamed up with a fellow Jay when he signed to Roc Nation, and while the hype train had officially left the station, it slowly became evident that it was on a trip to nowhere. I snuck back into my dorm around midnight to avoid pissing off a sleeping roommate I’d only known for a few days before trying to track down more of his music and came across a 22-track mixtape appropriately named “What The Fuck Is A Jay Electronica?” It didn’t take long for me to become absolutely captivated as I made my way through it, and shortly before I reached the halfway point, I was treated to a 15-minute song where he laid down verses over various snippets from Jon Brion’s masterful Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind soundtrack (the first of which featured the lyrics he’d rapped over the signature game show opening when he kicked off his set) supplemented with samples from films including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Prestige. Over the course of the next half-hour, he continued to spit over largely percussionless beats that frequently faded to allow him to showcase his acapella skills, and while Black Star put on one hell of a show, I couldn’t stop thinking about his performance when I left the venue and headed back to campus. I can’t say I’d ever been particularly captivated by any of the other acts I’d been subjected to at concerts while waiting for the one I’d come, but there was just something differentnt about this dude. This included some guy who went by the name of Jay Electronica, who announced his arrival by bursting onto the stage after the “Price Is Right” theme kicked in before proceeding to rap over it. When the doors opened, I managed to secure a spot in the front row (as someone who stands at 6’10”, this was admittedly the dictionary definition of a “dick move,” but in my defense, I remained as slouched over as possible during the entirety of the concert in an attempt to atone for my sin).īefore being treated to the main event, I had to sit through a couple of openers I’d never heard of. The show took place at House of Blues in Boston, where I arrived a couple of hours early to post up as close to the stage as possible. The duo dubbed “Black Star” had released a legendary album of the same name around a decade prior and I wasn’t going to let the whole “lack of friends” thing get in the way of seeing the two artists behind one of my favorite hip-hop records of all time. I can, on the other hand, understand why people would look at you strangely for attending a concert alone, which is how I kicked off my freshman year of college when I bought a single ticket to see Mos Def and Talib Kweli. ![]() ![]() Back when movie theaters were still a thing, there was a fairly inexplicable stigma surrounding the act of going to see something by yourself, as many members of the general public seemed to think sitting in a dark room next to people you know and not talking to them for hours on end was somehow the ultimate social activity.
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