Jay Elect reveals that years ago he started disguising his voice as he would receive “hip hop prejudice” when folks heard the twang in his voice.
“I would go somewhere — I would go to an open mic and when they heard my accent and not understand what I’m saying, it would just be a door-closer,” Jay told MTV UK on a recent trip to Europe. “I made a point in being able to speak in a certain way that I wouldn’t get the door closed on me. All of these things make me who I am now, you know.”
“I have to admit, you know, a few years ago, I wouldn’t have admitted this — or maybe I wouldn’t have been conscious of it in a way to admit or be embarrassed — but in my earlier years from when I first left home, I was embarrassed from being from the South,” he added. “Not in general, but as a rapper because all of the negative things that people in the States put on the South. Like, ‘The South, they’re slow. They move slow, they think slow, they’re less intelligent. They’re less exposed, they’re underexposed, they’re more sheltered.’ So as a rapper — I’ve been rapping since I was 10 years old — I always had a feeling of ‘I’m gonna show you’ because we down here doing it. Not that I was embarrassed necessarily — I don’t know if that’s the correct word — but I know that when I left home, if someone had heard my accent and heard where I was from, the door was immediately closed.”
Electronica said he had to adapt and become a chameleon on the mic. While trying to break into the music industry, he moved between different cities such as New York, Atlanta and Chicago.
“I kind of stiff-armed my roots for a couple of years,” the Brooklyn transplant continued of his journey. “Then my sister told me one day, ‘You know, you act like you’re ashamed of being from home.’ It was like a reality check. I checked myself. I mean, this is years ago, but now I’m at a place where I understand where I’m from. I understand my culture and I’m more proud to be from there than associate with somewhere else.”
Despite trying to hide his roots early on, Jay thinks back to the early days of New Orleans hip-hop with a smile.
“I’m from New Orleans and there’s a certain type of music,” he explained. “I come from a bounce culture — bounce music. You been to New Orleans a couple times, you probably heard of the bounce music. It’s a part of me; I grew up with bounce music. It’s call-and-response, it’s trance, it’s tribal, it’s communal, it’s African, it’s based in Africa … the energy of it.”
Where dey at ho…I wanna listen to Guerilla Warfare now
That’s some ho shit Jay Elec.
The South got something to say!
DOWNLOAD KNAANS ALBUM THE MESSENGERS @ INTELLIGENTREBELLION.ORG
^^^^^^^^^
Thats not new
Oh and the wheres the music Jay
No one gives a shit. Where’s the music.
i hear ya. da souf iz slooooowwwwwwwww.and they say finna! lol whats that?
I always wondered why Jay didn’t sound like the rest of them country fools. At least he sounds intelligent now, people with thick southern accents, black or white, sound like idiots with no class.
lol misleading ass post title…
Stephen Colbert is another famous person who admitted to rejecting the southern accent so he could be taken seriously.
That’s unfortunate, but I’m not surprised.
ay good music is good music i dont really care where you from feed me i need that ish in my system
Paterson NJ
COKE
i don’t respect dude for that.
he should be embarrassed about bullshitting his fans. this is ridiculous, drop some music. can we get some kind of boycott or ban on any Jay Elect posts without actual music
somebody please contact jay elec & tell the duude ta drop act 2
SMH at the first guy saying “That’s some ho sh*t”. READ THE POST! He was being real, and he said he used to be. It’s not no ho sh*t. Some of the reasons he had were true, and that’s just true in any situation. If you want to talk about black people in general too, it’s the same thing. There are a handful of clowns that make it hard for us to be taken serious sometimes, and so people like Jay Electronica really trying to be somebody real, it’s difficult because those clowns perpetuate negative stereotypes and perceptions in peoples’ heads.
Oh, and @Gonzo, where you been at? They say “finna” everywhere. I live up North here in Minnesota, and we say finna. It’s a derivative of the statement “Fixing to”, meaning “about to”.
idc, where the fuck is Act 2? LOL
Remember when Act 2 was supposed to drop on Christmas? Yeah, me too.
You gotta do what it takes to get a start. Like MF DOOM had to wear a stocking on his head at open mic before he got the mask.
Naw Fuck That…I Understand Exactly What He’s Saying…As Someone From The South(Tx)…It’s Hard To Get A Fuckin Real Chance Here Especially In The Rap Game…Like East Coast & West Coast Look As Us Like We’re Fuckin Idiots And Shit And Not Everyone From The South Ain’t Like That…I Get Fuckin Tired Of Coming Outside And Hearing The Same Ol Same Ol…I’m Finna Come Down,I’m Finna Come Thru BS…Like Dead Serious…I’m Not Into The Basic Ass Shit…Like I Respect What The Pioneers Did For Tx…The Screwed Up Click,Geto Boys,S.P.M.Botany Boys,Street Military,Scarface,U.G.K.Devin The Dude,Etc…But Some People Like Decent Words Were Everything Ain’t In Slang…If You Don’t Know What I Mean…You Should Go And Look For Of That Old Late 90′s Music…
@M.
Remember when Act 2 was supposed to drop on Christmas? In 2008? I’ve been waiting two years yall can wait an extra month or two lol
people are gonna judge you no matter where ur from, and even though you from the n.o. you supposed to bring that element into the game because it’s who you are, the real south has established it’s lyrical content already, and has some of hiphop’s top mc’s, you in the game to add to that legacy.
I remember checking 2bz constantly for Act II over Christmas break…
ACT FUCKING TWO
Meanwhile, Drake has been going out of his way to sound southern with his fake ass twang.
I respect what Jay’s saying though. It’s not like he tried to make himself sound like a white dude or something.
“Meanwhile, Drake has been going out of his way to sound southern with his fake ass twang. ”
Thats what i’m saying.
Props to Jay Elec for not sounding ignorant.
Getting rid of the twang opens door for you in every occasion. Unless your Drake backed by a major corporation , jews, and and a TV show.
Video of Jay Electronica’s 1st Columbus Ohio performance.
http://www.ehpicmedia.com/ExhibitC.htm
http://www.ehpicmedia.com/ExhibitCCipher.htm
This that shit, Son!!!!
What steve said..
We dont give a fuck until act ii
If you actually listen to the interview and read what has been written, it all makes sense… Biggups to Jay for being honest with the people. 1
“Meanwhile, Drake has been going out of his way to sound southern with his fake ass twang.”
hahaha, yes, reason #27 why Drake is such a fuckin cornball.
That’s what fake people say.. I just lost a little respect for the man.. The Outkast didn’t have the doors closed on them for being from the South. They didn’t have it easy at the time with the East/West Coast battle going on but they stuck with who they were and people respected that and that’s what got them to where they are today.
@George Clooney.
He partly lived with his dad in Memphis, Tennessee. He got it from there. People who jump from multiple locations end up with strange accents. There’s a guy I know who lived in London and moved to Cali. Now he got like a LA British accent. lol.
act 2 drops when detox comes out
Donde esta la musica..Cool interviews though
“They said down south was wack when it came to rap/ That our thoughts was too slow and we couldn’t adapt/ When in fact we taught ya how to build a label from scratch/ When you was whining about the points on ya contract, black/ We slip when we talk and we dip when we walk/ When we came to the game nigg@s stole our slang/ Uh huh – we hit the game with a brand new funk plus we taught ya how to slang a record out ya trunk/ It’s dirty south til I die homie….”
Fuck people saying that’s some ho shit. He’s just being real. Have you never been ashamed of where you’re from? Never tried to cover up who you are? I don’t think so…
i’d be embarrassed to be from the south too and i ain’t a rapper
cali>>>
My Uzi Weighs a Ton
Everyone knows that if you’re from the south there’s a 90% chance you’re half retarded, or the result of an incestuous relationship, or both. Prime example: Gudda Gudda. I wouldn’t admit im from the south either.
I fuckin love Jews…at least they are original.
Fuck your weed music and “black power grip” rap.
I swear too many “niggas” love hating on Drake for no reason at all.
Mos Def, Gucci, Royce Da 5’9, Spike Lee, Tyler Perry, etc they are all coons to me.
That’s why I forever love MLK jr.
(U understand me now or do u think im a little bit crazy lol)
#
@George Clooney.
He partly lived with his dad in Memphis, Tennessee. He got it from there. People who jump from multiple locations end up with strange accents. There’s a guy I know who lived in London and moved to Cali. Now he got like a LA British accent. lol.
Onederin said this on March 10th, 2010 at 9:24 pm
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Good thing his dad didn’t live in Sweden then.
Look, he’s obviously got issues. I mean, you’ve heard him speak. There’s like zero indication of a southern accent in his regular speaking voice. The shit is just corny as hell.
Btw, he only spent a couple months in the summer there at a time, it’s not like he was half raised down there.
“lol misleading ass post title…”
how so? its a DIRECT QUOTE from jay himself. smh..
@Onederin
L.A. has an accent
Jay Elec being ashamed of being a Southerner and changing his voice = cool, perfectly understandable
Drake employing a slight Southern tone = terrible
Hipster logic stays failing.
Does this dude just do interviews all day or somethin’??? I check this site nearly everyday for new music from him and everytime his name comes up it’s some bullshit interview… Get in the fuckin’ booth electronica and don’t come out until you have a full album for the fans. I will gladly pay for your music if you ever put any out.
I’ve always thought the same thing about J. Cole. I guess he got up to New York and figured he had talk and rap like them dudes. No matter. It’s still good to have him rep NC I suppose.
Folks need to remember tho that Jay is 34 years old and started rapping at 10. When he was coming up even the most successful Southern rappers were still largely regional and couldn’t break national. And if you were from the South unless you were doing Southern party music, you’re chances of getting signed were slim to none.
It was also a time when NY was putting out a lot of good music and not recognizing or giving respect to good music from other areas especially the South.
It’s like now when you see up North rappers putting on Southern accents and talking about their family in the South, it was just the opposite back then when Jay was coming up. A lot of rappers from everywhere were using northern accents and talking about their fam up north cause NY was considered the standard at the time.
Including Outkast (someone mentioned Outkast). Rico has said many times when he met Outkast they sounded like NY rappers. The same was said about Snoop Dogg when he was discovered.
Jay Elec is the Bill Withers of hip hop I will buy 10 of his album if it ever drops.
80% of black ppl in this country is probably from the south.
fuck jay elec, seriosuly. shuv ur act 2 as well. im waitin for nas and damian marley and that wu massacre. i dont give a fuck about no wannabe 2010 5%, that shit was so mid 90s. move on.
Co sign dude above me untill the the 30s only 8 percent of the north was black and even less in the the “great mirgartion” were alot of blacks left the south to move west and up top 70 percent of Cali blacks came frm Texas louisana & miss so still fuck jay elect tho real talk
Came out and said it. He called himself out. Just a man that Did what he had to do and now is telling his story. All “yall” still trapped in the closet just continue hatting and Mr Electronica will continue to collect and roll with people you cant even imagine about. Que static and distortion…..
lol @ dropping pointless random statistics of black migration patterns in the early 20th century…lol
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Regardless of the statistics it’s still true that most of u northern niggas have ancestors from the south
whats funny as shit is that all the black people in new orleans talk like with a distinct southern accent, while all the white people sound like they’re from brooklyn or some shit. What the hell is that all about?
^^^ Ummm, yeah dawg, thats definitely not true. 1) Most white people don’t sound like they’re from brooklyn, except when they’re actually from brooklyn. 2) Although it can be said that white people in general sound might more similar to each other than black people do, they still have distinct accents.
back to Jay. That just sounds like code-switching to me, and most people do that shit in way or another.
Obviously you have never been to New Orleans. The real locals there, the white ones, do have a accent very similar to a new york/ new jersey accent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qo6kOqf2GE