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Elpadaro F. Electronica Allah (born Timothy Elpadaro Thedford), known professionally as Jay Electronica (correctly stylized as J A Y E L E C T R O N I C A), is an American rapper born on September 19, 1976. He originates from from the Magnolia Projects in New Orleans, Louisiana. The unconventional nature of much of his music, and the lack of conventional release methods for that music, has since 2007 made him the object of much attention.
Jay Electronica first gained significant attention through Act I: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge), his single track, five movement mixtape made available on a MySpace page in 2007. The nature of the piece of music, along with the nature of its appearance, led to a slow build-up of interest in Electronica as an enigmatic figure. Its success, along with his standalone Just Blaze assisted single "Exhibit C", led fellow American rapper Jay-Z to sign Electronica to his Roc Nation label in 2010, following a multi-label bidding war. 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.
His debut studio album, A Written Testimony (2020), was met with critical acclaim and entered the Billboard 200 at number 12, alongside peaking within the top 10 of the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, specifically at number 8. His second second studio album, Act II: The Patents of Nobility (The Turn) initially released on TIDAL in October of that same year after a copy of the long awaited album leaked online after being bought from a leaker, though it was removed later the same month.
His guest appearance on Kanye West's 2021 song, "Jesus Lord", marked his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 26 on the chart.
In 2025, he re-released Act I: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge) and Act II: The Patents of Nobility (The Turn). These re-releases were followed by three mini-albums, A Written Testimony: Leaflets, A Written Testimony: Power at the Rate of My Dreams, and A Written Testimony: Mars, the Inhabited Planet.
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