Elpadaro F. Electronica Allah (born Timothy Elpadaro Thedford; September 19, 1976), known professionally as Jay Electronica (stylized as ), is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, he first saw recognition with release of his debut mixtape, '' Act I: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge)'' (2007). Its success, along with his standalone single " Exhibit C", led American rapper

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

to sign Electronica to the latter's record label,

Roc Nation Roc Nation is an American entertainment company founded by Jay-Z in 2008. Headquartered in New York City, the company is a successor to his previous Roc-A-Fella Records label, with additional offices in Los Angeles and London. It serves as a re ...

—following a multi-label bidding war—in 2010. His debut studio album, '' A Written Testimony'' (2020), was met with critical acclaim and entered the ''Billboard'' 200 at number 12; it was followed by his second album, '' Act II: The Patents of Nobility (The Turn)'' (2020) in October of that same year. His guest performance on

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

's 2021 song, " Jesus Lord", marked his first entry on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Career

In 2007, Jay Electronica released his first mixtape, '' Act I: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge)'', via

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

. It was downloaded over 50,000 times. That success and his catalog led to Electronica joining the Rock the Bells Tour in 2008. Later that year, producer

Just Blaze Justin Gregory Smith (born January 8, 1978), known professionally as Just Blaze, is an American record producer and DJ. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Smith attended Rutgers University for three years before dropping out to pursue a career in mus ...

and Jay Electronica selected songs for Guitar Center's GAIN project, Fresh Cuts Vol. 3 and included a (previously unnamed) song which Just Blaze named "Exhibit A (Transformations)."

would later (October 27, 2009) debut " Exhibit C" on Tony Touch's Sirius Radio program, where it quickly caught on, making its way to terrestrial radio stations like New York's Hot 97 and spawning artist remixes from MCs AZ, N.O.R.E,

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

, Joell Ortiz and others. A bidding war ensued with Jay finally signing (November 12, 2010) with

. Though fans and critics anticipated a full-length debut, Electronica's output in the subsequent decade consisted of several collaborations and non-album solo songs. On February 7, 2020, Jay Electronica announced via

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

the completion of his album, '' A Written Testimony'', which was recorded over a 40-day period. It was released on March 13, 2020. On October 5, 2020, Jay Electronica announced via Twitter that his previously unreleased album, '' Act II: The Patents of Nobility (The Turn)'', was available for streaming on Tidal after the album had surfaced online two days prior. In August 2021, Jay Electronica guest featured on the song "Jesus Lord" released on Kanye West's album '' Donda''.

Personal life

Jay Electronica and

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu, is an American singer and songwriter. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

were in a relationship for five years and have a daughter together, Mars Merkaba Thedford, who was born in 2009. Jay Electronica had an affair with Kate Emma Rothschild, the wife of Benjamin Goldsmith, resulting in the breakdown of Goldsmith's marriage. Jay Electronica is a registered member of the

Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A centralized and hierarchical organization, the NOI is committed to black nationalism and focuses its attention on the Afr ...

and follower of

Louis Farrakhan Louis Farrakhan (; born Louis Eugene Walcott; May 11, 1933) is an American religious leader who heads the Nation of Islam (NOI), a Black nationalism, black nationalist organization. Farrakhan is notable for his leadership of the 1995 Million M ...

Controversies

Statements about the Illuminati

On March 13, 2020, Electronica caused controversy by posting a series of bizarre Tweets, in which he claimed to have had a meeting with the Illuminati (the legendary

secret society A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence ag ...

that supposedly controls all world events with the aim of creating a New World Order). The controversy arose from the fact that his tweets accused certain groups in society of being part of the Illuminati, such as the

Dominicans Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...

, the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian military group unite ...

and the

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

, leading him to be accused of committing

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

religious discrimination Religious discrimination is treating a person or group differently because of the particular religion they align with or were born into. This includes instances when adherents of different religions, denominations or non-religions are treate ...

and being a

conspiracy theorist A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

Feud with Joe Budden

Since March 2020, Electronica is involved in an ongoing feud with broadcaster, media personality and former rapper

Joe Budden Joseph Anthony Budden II (born August 31, 1980) is an American broadcaster and former rapper. He first gained recognition with his 2003 single " Pump It Up", which peaked in the top 40 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and preceded the release of h ...

due to Budden's negative review of Electronica's debut album, '' A Written Testimony'' (in which Budden openly says that he hated Electronica's debut album and that he called Electronica's debut album "A

Mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

"), which led to him and Budden to get involved in a heated argument that went viral on

, with the two exchanging accusations against each other.

Antisemitism

The track "Ghost of Soulja Slim" from the album '' A Written Testimony'' includes a reference to the " Synagogue of Satan", a phrase pulled from Revelation 2:9 often considered as an antisemitic slur. The album also contains samples of sermons by

, the

leader whose rhetoric has often been denounced as antisemitic. As a result, Electronica has been accused of

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. His verse on Noname's song "Balloons" also features numerous antisemitic dog whistles, including the Rothschild conspiracy theory, which led to controversy and criticism.

Discography

* '' A Written Testimony'' (2020) * '' Act II: The Patents of Nobility (The Turn)'' (2020)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* - Old official website (2004–2005) *
Jay Electronica video interview on redbullmusicacademy.comJust Blaze, Jay Electronica, & Mike "Chav" Chavarria
– An Interview with Jay, Chav, & Just Blaze
Exclaim! magazine interview with Jay Electronica

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Electronica, Jay 1976 births Living people St. Augustine High School (New Orleans) alumni African-American male singers American male singers African-American record producers American expatriates in England American hip-hop record producers Five percenters Members of the Nation of Islam Rappers from New Orleans J Songwriters from Louisiana 21st-century American singers Erykah Badu African-American songwriters African American–Jewish relations