Thursday Thoughts - Diamonds Are Forever?

In the past week, it was made public that rapper Jay Electronica has signed to Roc Nation. This might not jump out as you read, but I aim to explain and help you understand what is going on and why I have selected this story as the topic of my Thursday Thought.

Jay Electronica was is an undeground artist hailing from New Orleans,  building a buzz and demanding attention from the mainstream hip hop community as well as purists after dropping underground gems such as "Exhibit A" and "Exhibit C".  Below is the much-talked about "Exhibit A".

 Jay Electronica - Exhibit A (Transformations) (Produced by Just Blaze)

Fans and critics alike have been singing his praises and annointed him as the next "God MC" and have placed the burden of him to restore Hip-Hop back to a "healthy" state for some, maybe back to the days of ATCQ (A Tribe Called Quest) or something similar to The Roots or Mos Def. As a result the buzz Jay Electronica has built for himself, it was only a matter of time before the majors came fishing for his signatures. Big names such as Nas, T.I. and Diddy all asked where he was going to make his recording home, and when he would drop his mainsteam debut LP. Keeping many in the dark for almost a year now he has just signed to Roc Nation as I mentioned before.

This may have raised a few eyebrows, as it did it to mine. I've asked myself on many occasions was it the right move, as labels ultimately hold the cards and tend to interfere with artists work too much. Thus not showing the true colours of the artist but showing that they can make what will sell  at the current time.

Jay Eletronica also was good friends with Mr Carter's former partner in crime, Dame Dash. Jay Elec has been found at  DD172 on many occasions, and has recorded with several DD172 artists such as Mos Def and Curren$y. What will Dame make of this move? Respect his friend's business acumen or see this as an act of betrayal?

 Amanda Diva, Dame, Curren$y and Jay Elec back in the gold ol' days.

Also I asked myself him working under Jay-Z would he flourish as an artist as the current roster boasts J. Cole as well as Willow Smith both acts in which I believe his time will be dedicated to, to add insult to injury while Jay-Z was the head of Def-Jam some may argue his time in that position was not utilised correctly. That being said, some may argue that him signing to Roc Nation will introduce him to a whole new audience, however his die hard fans will hope that he does not become consumed of the idea of chasing platinum selling albums but rather focusing on making a classic LP.

Recently to hit the net is a track that features Jay Electronica, Mr Carter, The-Dream and Charlotte Gainsbourg called "The Shiny Suit Theory".

Jay Electronica featuring Jay-Z, The-Dream & Charlotte Gainsbourg - Shiny Suit Theory

When I first heard this I had to shout my brother Kwarmz just to make sure he has heard what I had just listened to, if this is a product of what is to come then all Jay Electronica fans have nothing to worry about as the chemistry shown on the track is nice.

What do you think about Jay Elec's decision?

Stay tuned for next week's Thursday Thought with Kwarmz.