| Jay Electronica | |||||||||||||
| Alias: | Je'Ri | ||||||||||||
| Birth Name: | Timothy Elpadaro Thedford[1] | ||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 19 September 1976[2] | ||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Genre: | Hip Hop | ||||||||||||
| Occupation: |
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| Years Active: | 2000–present | ||||||||||||
| Label: |
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Elpadaro F. Electronica Allah[3] [4] (born Timothy Elpadaro Thedford; September 19, 1976), known professionally as Jay Electronica (stylized as ), is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in New Orleans, he first saw recognition with release of his debut mixtape, (2007). Its success, along with his standalone single "Exhibit C", led American rapper Jay-Z to sign Electronica to the latter's record label, Roc Nation—following a multi-label bidding war—in 2010. His debut studio album, A Written Testimony (2020), was met with critical acclaim and entered the Billboard 200 at number 12; it was followed by his second album, (2020) in October of that same year. His guest performance on Kanye West's 2021 song, "Jesus Lord", marked his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100.[5]
In 2007, Jay Electronica released his first mixtape, , via Myspace. It was downloaded over 50,000 times.[6] That success and his catalog led to Electronica joining the Rock the Bells Tour in 2008.[7]
Later that year, producer Just Blaze and Jay Electronica selected songs for Guitar Center's GAIN project, Fresh Cuts Vol. 3 and included a (previously unnamed) song which Just Blaze named "Exhibit A (Transformations)."[8]
Just Blaze would later (October 27, 2009) debut "Exhibit C" on Tony Touch's Sirius Radio program,[9] where it quickly caught on, making its way to terrestrial radio stations like New York's Hot 97 and spawning artist remixes from MCs AZ, N.O.R.E, Saigon, Joell Ortiz and others.
A bidding war ensued with Jay finally signing (November 12, 2010) with Roc Nation. Though fans and critics anticipated a full-length debut, Electronica's output in the subsequent decade consisted of several collaborations and non-album solo songs.[10]
On February 7, 2020, Jay Electronica announced via Twitter[11] the completion of his album, A Written Testimony, which was recorded over a 40-day period. It was released on March 13, 2020.[12]
On October 5, 2020, Jay Electronica announced via Twitter[13] that his previously unreleased album, , was available for streaming on Tidal after the album had surfaced online two days prior.
In August 2021, Jay Electronica guest featured on the song "Jesus Lord" released on Kanye West's album Donda.[14]
Jay Electronica and Erykah Badu were in a relationship for five years and have a daughter together, Mars Merkaba Thedford, who was born in 2009.[15]
Jay Electronica had an affair with Kate Emma Rothschild, the wife of Benjamin Goldsmith, resulting in the breakdown of Goldsmith's marriage.[16]
Jay Electronica is a registered member of the Nation of Islam and follower of Louis Farrakhan.[17]
On March 13, 2020, Electronica caused controversy by posting a series of bizarre Tweets, in which he claimed to have had a meeting with the Illuminati (the legendary secret society that supposedly controls all world events with the aim of creating a New World Order). The controversy arose from the fact that his tweets accused certain groups in society of being part of the Illuminati, such as the Dominicans, the Visigoths and the Jehovah's Witnesses, leading him to be accused of committing racism, religious discrimination and being a conspiracy theorist.[18]
Since March 2020, Electronica is involved in an ongoing feud with broadcaster, media personality and former rapper Joe Budden due to Budden's negative review of Electronica's debut album, A Written Testimony (in which Budden openly says that he hated Electronica's debut album[19] and that he called Electronica's debut album "A Jay-Z Mixtape"), which led to him and Budden to get involved in a heated argument that went viral on Twitter, with the two exchanging accusations against each other.[20]
The track "Ghost of Soulja Slim" from the album A Written Testimony includes a reference to the "Synagogue of Satan", a phrase pulled from Revelation 2:9 often considered as an antisemitic slur. The album also contains samples of sermons by Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader whose rhetoric has often been denounced as antisemitic. As a result, Electronica has been accused of antisemitism.[21] His verse on Noname's song "Balloons" also features numerous antisemitic dog whistles, including the Rothschild conspiracy theory, which led to controversy and criticism.[22]
See main article: Jay Electronica discography.