The term "long-awaited" gets thrown around freely when it comes to highly anticipated albums. In the case of rapper Jay Electronica, the concept of a long-awaited debut album was pushed to its outer limits, as he first emerged in the mid-2000s and watched his legacy grow substantially while only releasing a scant few tracks, guest appearances, and mixtape-level projects over a period that stretched for more than a decade.
A Written Testimony comes bearing the weight of heightened expectations and delivers a modern classic, a new step forward in the evolution of hip-hop. Perhaps the first factor in the album's excellence are the uncredited contributions from rap icon
Jay-Z on nine of the ten tracks. There's a star-studded list of other contributors --
Travis Scott sings an auto-tuned hook on "The Blinding,"
the-Dream shows up on two songs -- but the record is defined by the dynamic chemistry that bubbles up in the back-and-forth between
Hova and Jay Electronica's winding flows. After growing up in New Orleans, Electronica moved around the States, absorbing the cultures and communal energies of Baltimore, Detroit, New York, and other spots and accepting the teachings of Elijah Muhammad along the way.
A Written Testimony takes from the various phases of this journey, with the title of "Ghost of Soulja Slim" referencing the deceased New Orleans No Limit Records rapper, the spacious instrumentals recalling the minimal genius of Detroit producer
J Dilla, and Nation of Islam ideology ornamenting every track. Big-name producers like
Hit-Boy,
No I.D., and
AraabMuzik appear on some tracks, but by and large the beats are made by Electronica himself. The inventive drum-free jazz loop and crowd noises that make up the beat of "Shiny Suit Theory" make for a perfectly open backdrop for detailed performances, almost as if bass and drums would obscure the delivery. The atmospheric, meandering "Ezekiel's Wheel" is mostly vocals, cloudy samples, and a motorik clicking sound for close to seven minutes, but every moment feels intentional and controlled. The entire album flows with this same deliberate construction. Electronica allegedly scrapped all the studio work he'd been laboring on for years and made
A Written Testimony in 40 days and 40 nights during a period of mystical inspiration. This can be heard in the balance between masterful architecture and spontaneous creation that the album hangs suspended in. There are moments throughout that recall
Wu-Tang's rawness,
the Notorious B.I.G.'s cool, collected confidence, the abstract thinking of early
Clipse, or
Dilla's spark of intuition and innovation. The rare achievement that makes the album work so well is that instead of attempting to re-create the heights of past master works, it pushes into new terrain.
Jay-Z and Jay Electronica sound energized by each other, giving powerful performances at every turn. Bold production choices gel with this collaborative energy for an album that's inspired, driven, and sounds moved by the hand of unseen powers. ~ Fred Thomas