Tue 1 Apr 2008
American Gladiators: Jay Electronica runs the gauntlet at the Nokia Theater
Posted by Miss Info under about miss info , concerts , relationships and family , videos[38] Comments
The web hasnt been so nice to young Jay Electronica today, after his first New York performance (first, right?), opening for Mos Def at my favorite concert venue in NY, the Nokia Theater. My girl Hillary over at Parlour had a funny conspiracy theory, and the Okayplayer boards were typically tough)
But with that level of scrutiny, I think the reaction (and the sheer volume of it) says less about his unpolished live set, than it does about his highly expectant following. If folks weren’t so already so pot-committed to the guy, then they wouldnt expect so much so early. Anyways, even when the yelling and the rambling and digression, I was still impressed with flashes of brilliance that, as someone who isn’t as familiar with the guy’s move, made me see alot of possibilities.
I’ve seen alot of shows over the years, and the early ones from the biggest and the best all had one thing in common. They sucked : )
So this guy is ahead of the game already.
Here’s the youtube version of the video, if you’d like.
Props to DJ AVee and Dprosper for taking care of me.
PS: that mask that Jay Electronica wears in the intro is of Obama. also, Just Blaze was deejaying.
April 1st, 2008 at 5:52 am
He has skills. I like what he has to say. He’s got some unique, creative ideas … I dig his music enough to buy his record …. but I wasn’t blown away by him.
Am I crazy?
I wasn’t at the show, so, what was so bad about his performance? Too much talking can be a sign of nervousness, and can be annoying, but I didn’t see anything terrible in the clip aside from the lack of vinyl being used by the DJ and the out-of-place, oversized medallion Jay’s hype-man was wearing.
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April 1st, 2008 at 4:21 pm
And I had actually started to review his set yesterday on my blog, but I decided not to. Jay is dope as hell, and once his show gets streamlined, he’s gonna have the hottest ticket out.
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April 1st, 2008 at 5:21 pm
i’m not familiar with his music, but that name’s hella bootsie.
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April 1st, 2008 at 5:37 pm
[...] clips are starting to make their way on the net this clip is via: missinfo to all the haters give him a break this was probably his first performance var [...]
April 1st, 2008 at 5:53 pm
i was there and was looking forward to see if he lived up to the hype…..
he didnt. i will stay looking out for him though and i will just chalk his performance up to being a beginner. nigga said nas was gonna come but wasnt able to make it, why even mention it then? Badu had more crowd control then him.
but i like dukes music and i will give him another chance if he plays NY again soon.
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April 1st, 2008 at 6:01 pm
info, damn i didnt even know he came out wit the mfdoom mask on!! his grade goes from a c- to a d off gp..
dude has alot of ground to make up..
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April 1st, 2008 at 6:12 pm
you know i’m ridin with my boy, lackluster show and all, but hillary dont knwo what the fuck she talkin about.
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April 1st, 2008 at 6:15 pm
@almighty….it was a paper with obama’s face on it. I thought it was funny…except that it blocked his words for a minute
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April 1st, 2008 at 6:55 pm
I’m not sure where or why the hype got big for Jay. He’s decent, but he doesn’t bring a whole lot to the table really.
What an akward performance.
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April 1st, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Pot committed.. you been Doyle Brunson Super System?? lol
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April 1st, 2008 at 7:33 pm
@jay….haha…remember how I didnt know how to play poker before? well, I’m sad to say now I dabble and watch waaay too many of those world series reruns.
not good for my already pathetic lack of productivity
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April 1st, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Soo…when did it get bad? That looks like the overwhelming majority of underground Hip Hop acts I’ve seen perform for crowds that didn’t get hyped just because Performer X stepped out on stage. They were like “Okay, Jay…live up to the Urb cover”. If they weren’t checkin’ for him before or playing Act I & II religiously in their iPods already then he wasn’t going to live up to those loftly expectations.
I mean damn…sometimes the WU suck live. That just seemed like a regular set to me.
One.
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April 1st, 2008 at 7:50 pm
# Fact$ Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 6:55 pm
I’m not sure where or why the hype got big for Jay. He’s decent, but he doesn’t bring a whole lot to the table really.
What an akward performance.
^^^ yea it was very awkward..i’m still trying to figure out what all the hype is about
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April 1st, 2008 at 7:51 pm
@dart…there were def some other less spectacular moments but I have another vid clip coming as soon as I can
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April 1st, 2008 at 7:53 pm
dart…is this noah’s friend dart? if so…hola : )
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April 1st, 2008 at 7:58 pm
He Has NOOO stage presence at all. He looks like a dude doing karaoke. Embarrassing.
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April 1st, 2008 at 8:17 pm
only hing dope was dilaa’s beats. jay was decent nothin more nothin less. ho hum
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April 1st, 2008 at 8:30 pm
wow, tough crowd, lol…
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April 1st, 2008 at 8:37 pm
was at the show. was impressed by the yung dude. waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than when i saw a young nasir jones perform back in like ‘93. he can only get better.
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April 1st, 2008 at 8:51 pm
@combat jack…lol, yes I agree with the nas part. lol
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April 1st, 2008 at 10:10 pm
People are tripping a little bit on this performance. But, that just reflects the anticipation he has generated. Nowadays with all these “Online A&R’s” artists can’t develop properly without scrutiny. It was only show #1 in NYC. Give dude a break.
I will say his music is really dense, and doesn’t really give the audience much to interact with (outside of the diehard fans), and honestly Nokia is a big fuckin’ venue to kick your NY look off at, maybe SOB’s or Knitting Factory would have fit his style a little more.
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April 1st, 2008 at 10:21 pm
no one is going to come off flawless on their 1st few shows. i don’t care who it is. what is worse is the fact that there are countless artists that i can run of the top of my head who have been performing for a minute and their shows still parallel the efforts of jay’s. now, i DID have a problem with him trying to converse with the crowd, and even i know that when you are the undercard you have to try and outdo the person you are opening for. you shove as much material down the audience’s throat as possible and you bounce.
but that’s besides the point. if you had all of these extra high expectations, blame yourself. no one should be able to make you believe someone else is so great without proof. not hearing anyone else backing his claims about how great his shows are should have set off a warning sign like it did with me.
don’t believe the hype…
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April 1st, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Jay Electronica trys alittle too hard in my opinion. But backpack types are so hungry for lyrics that anyone who says something (no matter what they say) they believe its different and unique and deep which I just don’t feel or get any of that from him.
Luckily for him Badu was looking for a new Andre, Common type and figured hes no Andre but atleast hes “different” and she fell in love and he got a record deal (from Miss Badu).
One thing I find strange is that I’m from New Orleans and he has never done ONE show in Nola and definately never made a name for himself there. Right now no one in Nola except internet music geeks (mostly white) have heard of Jay Electronica and 3 albums from now that fact won’t change.
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April 1st, 2008 at 11:55 pm
@504….are there alot of music geeks in N.O? maybe its just not a genre of hip hop that’s very well developed yet out there.
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April 2nd, 2008 at 1:51 am
[...] Read Info’s review HERE [...]
April 2nd, 2008 at 4:34 am
Yeah, there is a bunch of music geeks in New Orleans, because of college radio and big jazz/ local music scene that encourages stannery and diligent research. But it is mostly separate from the Bounce/ New Orleans Rap Tradition. The only crossover is at shared music venues and local music magazines.
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April 2nd, 2008 at 5:39 am
i feel so out of the loop.i dont know who the hell jay electronica is,where he came from or when.am i weird or are ya’ll?
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April 2nd, 2008 at 11:12 am
Damn. I was hoping that Just Blaze wasn’t the vinyl-less DJ behind the table.
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April 2nd, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Yea so, I was at the show and Jay Electronica was just an anomaly. He was dressed like he was going on a casual dinner date, rapping like he was in Madison Square to a hyped audience, but was getting booed throughout. He had a lot of things going against him. Show was supposed to start @ 8. It’s Sunday night people have to work. Didn’t start till about 9:45 and by that time no one was checking for him and his elementary delivery. I was like where the &@#!9 is MOS! Then he kept trying to hit everyone w/ that story time, Million Man March, “movement” schtik, and no one was beat. Even Erykah Badu coming out couldn’t help him, and that says a lot.
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April 2nd, 2008 at 9:13 pm
& I agree w/ Saul Goode, perhaps Nokia was overwhelming, I can see him at the Knitting Factory, SOBs or the The Highline might even be too much. AND! He had no stamina, he needs to get in shape b4 he starts spewing crowded ass 16s.
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April 2nd, 2008 at 9:17 pm
pascalle….ouch! casual dinner date!
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April 2nd, 2008 at 10:47 pm
LOL, just telling it like it is…it was the snug collared shirt~! Let me be nice, the graphics on the screen were cool. & I was feeling the Obama mask (although @ first I thought he was MFDoom as well) It did annoy me that his brother was all on the stage following him like it was an MTV Diary episode. He did say some clever things. Had he just given a straight show, I might not have been dying of frustrated laughter the whole night.
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April 2nd, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Why dont you try to REPEAT.. the lyrics that come out of my mans mouth. Did you happen to watch the videos of Jay saying “we need to change music” and the crowd going FREAKING NUTS? Did we all miss that part? Do we all base our opinion on Jay Electronica now by the rules and laws of Parlour magazine? Sad…really sad
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April 3rd, 2008 at 3:50 am
And here’s where the internet and our disposable, spoiled, always seeking instant gratification music palletes get the best of us.
Let’s just pretend it’s 1998 and not 2008. Jay electronica would have his buzz building enough in the industry to garner opening for mos def probably. Only those on the inside would have heard his music, and a few of those insiders would vouch for him, so somebody throws him a show. Now, nobody is mr. move the crowd from day 1, I don’t care who you are. I’ve opened for a lot of the best acts, most of them have shaped their live shows over YEARS of practice. So Jay has a bad show in 1998. Doesn’t matter, cause the necessary people are there to see the potential in what is going on, and can coach him on everything he needs to do. And the audience that was there, well they can only badmouth the lackluster performance to their friends, and that’s about it.
But in 2008 we are SPOILED. We get everything before it’s ready. We hear music before it’s developed, we see shows before the artist is seasoned, and we trade music like hot stocks. Now everybody in the world knows Jay had a show that was under par. The same fan base that prides themselves on liking Jay because he’s that “internet dude” will flip on him because of a bad show. Do fans exist?
**cues up phonte’s verse from “can’t win for losing”**
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April 3rd, 2008 at 8:08 am
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April 3rd, 2008 at 8:08 am
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April 10th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
jay’s fire.
i hope he soon realizes all he needs is his voice, his track, and a mic.
no hype man
no dj
no arms waving or walking around.
he’s NOT THAT. he’s more than that.
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September 1st, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Tis not for DumbFux. Straight up. 37 year old speakin on this. This young Beast is the truth and the truth hurts. Anyone who just listens and does not meditate on HipHop music this is NOT for you. Gah Head with the LLC ENT, thats Lowest Learning Curve for my cats who take life, beats and lyrics serious such as myself, married a decade with 3 of em STILL keepin a close relationship with the music I love from youth that continues to keep me alive. But cats with sincere intentions NEVER really get what they deserve and they KNOW this. I’ll be supportin this cat in MPLS with NAS at FIRST AVE. Datz HEAT for that AZZ, may take picture or two, the occasion is that Fucking Special.
Play good HipHop for Children.
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