Toy Story: Jay Electronica & the Roc Nation Shelf

November 10, 2011 17 comments

For kids, toys are seasonal objects. At first, the new shiny trinket is instantly “the best”—both intriguing and captivating. But eventually, after the acquisition of new playthings or just through plain disinterest, they find their way to the far end of a lonely, dusty shelf. Doesn’t matter if it’s a space commander equipped with a locking wrist communicator, karate-chop action, pulsating laser light, multi-phrase voice simulator and high pressure space wings, or simply a New Orleans emcee with tons of potential—toys get old. After seeing how many hurdles and hoops J. Cole had to jump over and through to get Cole World in stores, Hip-Hop fans can only wonder if Jay Electronica made the right decision by signing with ‘Andy’ and Roc Nation.

On the day the news broke that Jay Electronica signed with the Roc, Diddy tweeted the grammatically incorrect phrase, “It hurts when breathe”—upset, to say the least. Everyone expected for him to sign with Bad Boy records. All the signs were there: Diddy namedrops on records—check. Pictures of the two chumming it up around town—check. There was even that song named after the ghost of a certain Bad Boy legend from Bed-Stuy, which featured animated adlibs from Puffy himself. All of that, however, only resulted in him eventually throwing up the diamond sign and announcing his allegiance with Shawn Carter—a career move that many believed to be wise at the time.

Fast forward a year and the buzz that Jay Electronica built as an independent artist has all but evaporated. Saying his 2011 has been disappointing would be an understatement. No dope guest feature verses, no new Mountain Dew commercials—nothing. And although he’s done some work with the Bullits and claims that Act II is in fact complete, fans don’t seem to be satisfied by that. Before the deal, the sparsity of his music added to his mystique. Now it just makes him seem inactive. In this “What have you done for me lately?” age of music, where free mixtapes are expected every quarter, Jay E is practically a forgotten man. It’s a do-it-yourself world—even if you are signed to the most successful rapper on the planet. Instead of dropping a few songs here and there to keep his name relevant, Jay Electronica has been posting pictures on Tumblr of himself and Dave Chappelle standing on rooftops in London–looking more like Mary Poppins than a rapper.

Fans did get a new record in “Call of Duty” recently featuring Prodigy of Mobb Deep, but he might as well have kept that one in the vault. “Dud” might be the ideal word to describe that song, a song we waited 365 days to hear. Before signing to a major, Jay E was killing verses on guest features with Curren$y and Reflection Eternal. Now he’s just killing time. Didn’t Nas hit him up on the phone and ask what he was waiting on? Didn’t Tip hit him up with a ‘twit’ asking the same question? When it comes to scarcity of new material, Jay Electronica is the most Andre 3000-rapper since—well, Andre 3000. But like three stacks, even with the proverbial streets being dry of his music, Jay E is still regarded by many as one of the best lyricists in the game—with “Exhibit C” serving as exhibit A and “Exhibit A” as exhibit B.

Unfortunately, talent and potential can only do so much and getting signed is only half the battle. Like a child with a toy, Mr. Carter’s interest can be lost rather easily—and rightfully so. Jay-Z just dropped Watch the Throne, recently embarked on a mega-tour for that same album, is part owner of the Brooklyn Nets and owns and manages his 40/40 clubs. Oh and did I mention his wife is about to give birth to the rap golden child? It’s understandable that he’s too busy to directly manage his artists. Jay-Z doesn’t have time to map out Willow Smith’s career or arrange collaborations for Bridget Kelly. He barely had time to record a lukewarm 16 for J. Cole’s debut album, an album that took nearly three years for Roc Nation to release. But Hov’s always been like that; even when he was President at Def Jam. His personal endeavors come first and everyone else’s last—something that Casey Veggies will soon find out, if those signing rumors are indeed true. Remember a fellow named Kanye West? Jay-Z initially didn’t have time for him either. It wasn’t until ‘Ye garnered a major buzz on his own that Jay began to fully support his “Little brother.” That’s how he operates. Bad Boy probably looks real good right now, but hindsight is always 20/20.

One can only imagine what Jay E has been doing during his rap sabbatical: Trying new granola diets, re-reading Decoded, playing Frank Ocean songs over Skype with Erykah—the norm I’d presume. It would be a shame if an emcee as talented as Jay Electronica became the next Joe Budden instead of the next Nas—loads of potential, but not quite reaching the level of success he’s capable of.

Every night, before bed, rap fans and critics alike pray to the Hip-Hop Gods that Act II will drop soon. They need it. Rap needs it. But in terms of relevance, Jay Electronica seems so small now—figurine like. One can only hope that his career will turn out to be one of a legend and not just another toy story.