Jay Electronica

Songwriter: Jay Electronica

As the tears welled up in my eyes
My mama said "Son what happened?"
"Sometimes I can't breathe cause it's so much crap man
I called on God but he don't call back and
Fight to stay sane while the devil's laughin'
Last night I was across the tracks
With Freddy and Black Teddy just playin' a crap game
Smokin' on stank, sippin' on drank
When Brian came flyin up the block like batman
'*pant pant* Minnie got killed!
His wig got peeled in the Calliope
By some Tenth Ward niggas that we barely know!'
I said 'Hold up, whoa whoa whoa whoa
You must be jokin',' but he wasn't laughin'
Freddy passed out in the the grass and that's when
His mother came outside and said 'Where's Minnie?'
I looked down at the ground 'I don't know where he's at ma'am.'
Lump in my throat; I just lost my best friend
Connecticut Minnie with the East Coast accent
Top it all of, my older cousin Mookie got caught
With some yellow capped vials of crack, man
"It's time for me to leave home, Ma; that's that, man
It ain't much left here to see for a black man"
I'mma spread my wings, pursue this rap thing
Kiss my baby sister, tell her I'll be back
I'm on I-10 East bound to Manhattan
NYC. Yes, sir, that's rap land
A one way ticket, a trunk of clothes
I spent my last 25 cent on Pac-Man
Mister bus driver set me free;
Just take me to New York and let me be

Timothy Elpadaro Thedford (born September 19, 1976), better known by his stage name Jay Electronica, is an American rapper and record producer. He is from New Orleans, Louisiana and currently based in London, United Kingdom.

Electronica first gained significant attention after the release of the musical composition Act Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge), which was made available on a MySpace page in 2007 and has been called a “timeless classic” by Vice Magazine. It is fifteen continuous minutes of music, without drums, built from Jon Brion’s soundtrack to the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In late 2009 he released two singles, both produced by Just Blaze, “Exhibit A” and “Exhibit C”, the latter of which won a Sucker Free Summit Award for Instant Classic. In November 2010, it was announced Jay Electronica had signed to hip hop mogul Jay Z’s Roc Nation record label.

More than a decade after his last project, What the Fuck is a Jay Electronica, and almost exactly eight years to the DAY after he reportedly finished and turned in his album, Jay Electronica finally released his debut studio album A Written Testimony on March 13, 2020. The album features Jay-Z on eight of its ten tracks, leading some to label it a collab album between the two Jays. The-Dream also makes three appearances, and even Travis Scott makes a surprising appearance on “The Blinding.”

more tracks from the album

Victory

From the album

Victory (2010)

Jay Electronica popular songs

DepartureJay Electronica

Jay Electronica

Victory