Jay Electronica is being heralded as the next BIG thing in hip hop so we went to see if the New Orleans ’ emcee was really the future…

This week saw rapper/producer Jay Electronica perform at The Jazz Cafe in Camden and to show his London fans some ‘Nawlins’ love. Playing two nights at the legendary venue where some of the best artists in the world have literally tore the house down Jay can certainly add himself to the list as he wowed last nights crowd with a good solid performance.

One of  the UK’s finest exports, Sway, opened up the night and he warmed the crowd up very nicely. Showcasing new stuff from his up coming mixtape The Delivery (which will be out soon) and doing some of his old stuff from This Is My Demo and The Signature LP. It’s good to see that Mr Dasfo brings that same charm, wit and sense of humour on the stage that he does on his tracks.

After getting the crowd warmed up, the man of the moment (that man being Jay Electronica of course) made his way to the stage and proceeded to get the crowd hyped. Switching between spitting over beats and acappella the rapper from The Big Easy amazed us with his intelligent and versatile lyrics and his impeccable flow. Jay stopped to pay tribute to the late great J Dilla and fellow Slum Village member Baatin.  Displaying very good interaction with the crowd by swapping his really cool London varsity jacket for a J Dilla tee, passing around a bottle of Jack Daniels and just generally cracking jokes with the audiences it’s clear that Mr Electronica is ‘for the people’.

Hip Hop shows can be quite drab and sometimes drawn out with a few exceptions, Jay Electronica’s show being one of those exceptions. Kicking knowledge from the jump and showing genuine love for London Town, he capped his set off with Exhibit A (Transformations) and Exhibit C thus ending a very memorable night.

5/5

Check out a video of the night from DJ Semtex’s blog.

Tags: Camden, Hip Hop, Jay Electronica, London, Online Review, Sway, The Jazz Cafe