At the Heineken Inspire event last night, J. Cole spoke with RTNY about Jay Elect’s recent signing to Roc Nation and his Friday Night Lights mixtape.

Photo: SpecialKiran.

Yes, you read it right (sorry Diddy) and miss info comes through with more, well… info.

Earlier I spoke to Jay E. about the big news, and his plans. He said that the actual contract was signed on Saturday, after a few weeks of intense daily communication and creative courtship. How did it start? With a chance meeting at the Spotted Pig. How did Electronica know Hov was serious? His second replay email came attached with a verse. That ended up becoming the Jay Electronica and Jay-Z collaboration “Shiny Suit Theory” (featuring French chanteuse Charlotte Gainsbourg and The-Dream).

There’s irony in the fact Jay-Z appears on a Jay Elec song that’s based on Diddy’s description of Jay Elec. Because Diddy has been mentoring and courting Jay for over a year, in the hopes of signing him as well. Electronica insists he values everything Puff contributed and hopes to have him involved in his career, but said “Jay-Z made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. And I have the freedom I need too.” The natural of the underground, the anti-establishment, the independent artist is rapidly changing…so I’m anxious to see what happens when Jay the conglomerate and Jay the mystic mix commerce and art.

Hopefully this means we’ll actually get Act II after all! Hit the jump for a preview of Jay-Z’s verse on Shiny Suit Theory and an a capella verse from Jay Elect.

Intro

TK was on deck to catch Jay Elec’s performance at Toronto’s Manifesto Festival. Check it all out down bottom.

Wiz Khalifa wasn’t the only artist in T-Dot last week. Jay Elec was on deck for the Manifesto Festival in Canada as well, and does what he does best. Props to BME.

Speaking of New Orleans artists… wait, this show’s been on for ten years? Damn, who knew it’d still be around for that long? Anyways, Jay Elec-Ramadan was the “Spotlight” artist for the show’s segment.

PREVIOUS: Jay Electronica Debuts New Song (Video)

They wrote this long, drawn out description of their interview with Jay, but the rest of us just wanna know what the hell happened to Act II.

During a show out in Cali the other night, Jay Elect played a portion of new song off that elusive Act II for the audience. One that he said he’s planning to drop on September 19th (his birthday). So by standard Jay Elect times, we should expect it sometime in December.

We’ve seen the talks between the two (Game x Jay Elect) on Twitter. Now here goes their collaboration, that will presumably end up on Jayceon’s upcoming album. Word is Nas will be contributing to the final version.

DOWNLOAD: Game – Higher f. Swizz Beatz & Jay Electronica | Mediafire

While Kanye has got the Internets going nuts, Jay Electronica has been residing in London for the past few weeks, working relentlesly in the studio, putting the concluding touches to the highly anticipated debut album, Act II. Jay invited me down to the studio to hear some of the cuts of the album, and although I can’t talk on the specifics, from what I heard, I can say that it is everything you expect times 10. It is a masterpiece, diverse Hip Hop excellence. The guest features that he has pulled out of the bag for the collaborations are pretty much beyond your current comprehension, and the journey making this album is as inspiring as the music itself. He’s done it, followed the code, cracked the safe, got the formula. The wait is almost over. – DJ Semtex

Let’s hope homeslice actually comes through, though. I’d try to get excited but the inner cynic in me doesn’t believe it.

SoulCulture TV captured a chunk of Jay Electronica‘s show at Cargo in London on Tuesday, emblazoned with an unmissable message – reinforced after the 12 minute mark with a “F*ck Solar” crowd call and response.

PREVIOUS: Jay Electronica – Exhibit C Live (Video)

More footage from Jay’s set at Paris’ Colors Festival. Still no sign of that album…

PREVIOUS: Jay Electronica – Googly Eyes Live (Video)

While in Paris for the Colors Festival, Jay performed another signature cut from his never-coming-out-anytime-soon album. Where’s the album Jay?