New Music
Jay Electronica Unearths Act II: The Patents of Nobility (The Turn) After Leak (Review)
Real Magic
This past weekend, the enigmatic lyricist Jay Electronica released his highly anticipated and long awaited album Act II: The Patents of Nobility (The Turn) to much fan fair. Act II was supposed to be the follow up to his critically acclaimed mixtape Act I: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge). However the project was since shelved because label heads at Roc Nation didn’t feel like it appealed to the masses, much to the chagrin of Jay Elec and fans everywhere. As a result it sat in purgatory.
In the same vein as A Written Testimony, this album appears out of nowhere at peak hysteria during the pandemic laden year of 2020, subsequently providing a sense of divinity in a world that seems to have lost it for the moment. Moreover, even though it’s unpolished Act II is easily one of the better albums to come out this year.
A Revelation
Considered by some as the Holy Grail of Hip-hop, Act II was unearthed finally after well over a decade. The album features 16 tracks with guest appearances by JAY-Z, The Bullitts, and many more. Even though it was leaked Act II: The Patents of Nobility is now available on TIDAL exclusively.
Jay Electronica releases long-awaited album, Act II: The Patents of Nobility.
Act II: The Patents of Nobility (The Turn) Tracklist (Listen) :
- Real Magic
- New Illuminati
- Patents of Nobility
- Life on Mars
- Bonnie and Clyde featuring Serge Gainsbourg
- Dinner at Tiffany’s featuring Charlotte Gainsbourg
- Shiny Suit Theory featuring JAY-Z and The-Dream
- Memories & Merlot
- Better in Tune featuring LaToya Givens
- Letter to Falon
- Road to Perdition featuring JAY-Z
- Welcome to Knightsbridge
- Rough Love
- Night of the Roundtable
- Run and Hide featuring The Bullitts
- 10, 000 Lotus Pedals
After well over a decade shrouded in mystery and cynicism, Act II’s eventual release was met with much praise and fan fair. On the other hand, one would think after so long in the dark, hip-hop would have given up on the project’s release.
APIDTA
The OG Jay Electronica album we never got just leaked. I honestly thought I’d never see the day… this is WILD 😳😳 pic.twitter.com/aHWmUV83dO
— King Wow 💬 (@WowThatsHipHop) October 4, 2020
https://twitter.com/lightbluemovers/status/1312628371994611713?s=20
Jay Electronica had this fucking album in the stash for 10 years dog and it sounds beautiful pic.twitter.com/IU5qvsaXnt
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) October 4, 2020
That is to say, 13 years of hype and nothing to show a decent amount of incredulity is expected to follow, so consequently some people will continue to remain jaded. It is what it is.
Better in Tune
However, Act II though unfinished, raw, and unpolished still manages to be fulfilling and as rich as anything. As a result, Jay Electronica’s ability to educate, boast, be vulnerable, whimsical, and honest is on full display throughout the album. For example, he raps one of his most stellar and introspective verses on Better in Tune, going:
“It’s frustratin’ when you just can’t express yourself
And it’s hard to trust enough to undress yourself
To stand exposed and naked, in a world full of hatred
Where the sick thoughts of mankind control all the sacred
I pause, take a step back, record all the setbacks
Fast forward towards the stars and the jetpack
My feet might fail me, my heart might ail me
The synagogues of Satan might accuse or jail me
Strip, crown, nail me, brimstone hail me
They might defeat the flesh but they could never ever kill me
They might can feel the music but could never ever feel me
To the lawyers, to the sheriffs, to the judges
To the debt holders and the law makers
F**k you, sue me, bill me
That name on that birth certificate, that ain’t the real me
The lies can’t conceal me
The sun rise and the moon tides and the sky’s gon’ reveal me
My brain pours water out my tear ducts to heal me
My Lord’s too beneficent
The message grab a hold to every ear it get whispered in
The waters in the bayous of New Orleans still glistenin’
The universe is listenin’, be careful what you say in it
My grandma told me every bed a n***a make, he lay in it
The church you go to pray in it, the work is on the outside
Staring out the windows is for love songs and house flies”
The Flow Is So Quranic
The A Written Testimony lyricist’s penchant for stringing together parables in rhymes is what makes him great. Better in Tune, along with Letter to Falon, Road to Perdition, and Shiny Suit Theory have been released throughout the years as loosies to hold fans over and in some ways certainly helped the legend of this mythical album grow– with Shiny Suit Theory ultimately ending up on AWT.
Even though Rough Love and Nights of the Roundtable are unfinished but somehow add to the charm of this project. Take Rough Love for instance, it isn’t fully mixed while on Nights of the Roundtable, he mumbles throughout leaving spaces for punch-ins before singing the chorus:
“I was not myself last night
In the morning light I can see the changes showing
(Keep it moving now, keep it going now)
As I lay there on the floor staring at the door with jaded eyes
Like a child who was always poor, calling out for more
I could feel the hunger growing”
Final Verdict
In conclusion, despite being very raw and a decade late Act II: The Patents of Nobility (The Turn) somehow manages to satiate and be timely. For instance, if you think back to March of this year Jay Elec out of nowhere dropped Album of The Year Contender, A Written Testimony earlier than expected and at the beginning of the worldwide pandemic. To clarify fast forward to today, as we clumsily try to recover and return to some semblance of normalcy Act II appears out of the ether as if it were dropped from the Heavens like a revelation. 8.8 out of 10
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