With both albums now officially out, the looming question among fans is: which is a better debut? One has to examine them as separate bodies of work and recorded under different conditions, all while representing the same artist. Strangely enough, the leak is why the long-awaited release is off the proverbial shelf and able to be streamed alongside A Written Testimony on Tidal. Nothing says the blog era quite like music stolen from a hard drive and shared through Mediafire links. Electronica comes from the underground blog era it’s oddly proper for his original debut to premiere online through unconventional means. Receiving the album through a leak feels far more fitting than some massive, big-budget, major label rollout. Seven months after the album’s release, Act II leaked online.
However, Act II never materialized, and instead, after 11 long years, he released his Roc Nation debut A Written Testimony on March 13, 2020. After signing with Jay’s Roc Nation in November of 2010, the 35-year-old lyricist was set to release Act II: Patents of Nobility (The Turn), the debut album he announced in 2009. He rhythmically produced abstract, highly technical, deeply mythical, and religious lyricism - a writer’s writer a rapper’s rapper.Īs popular music transitioned from the dying era of ringtone rap to the emerging Autotune jingles of the 2010s, Electronica felt like the perfect antithesis against bubblegum hip-hop.
To his credit, the attention Electronica gathered was because of his gift with words. Who else from the South had JAY-Z and Diddy bidding to sign them? Name another revered by Yasiin Bey, beloved by Just Blaze, and heralded by Erykah Badu all before releasing an album. Following the official release of Act II: Patents of Nobility (The Turn), the looming question among fans is: Which is the better debut from Jay Electronica - Act II or A Written Testimony?īetween 20, New Orleans rapper Jay Electronica generated a rare excitement in hip-hop that was unusual for a Southern rapper.