For years, fans have been waiting for a new album from Jay Electronica. While he still hasn't dropped Act II, some very rare music from the reclusive MC may have just leaked online. According to a Reddit thread, the album is called The Awakening and was released by Jay all the way back in 2000 under the name Je'Ri. There's no actual confirmation that this is really an early Jay Electronica album, but off a quick listen of the 15-song project, the vocals sound like him. Not only that, but the cover used with the upload is clearly a blurred photo of Jay. If the songs are indeed real, it's unclear why they've never been made available online before now.
Also included in the Reddit thread is a review of the project from 2000 by the site HipHopGame, which seems to further prove that this is actually the real deal. Though it doesn't refer to Je'Ri as Jay, it does say that this was his debut underground album. The review lists the project as being released under "Boss and Family Records," though no other search links Jay and the label. It's unclear who uploaded the album to SoundCloud, but most of the songs only have a few thousand plays since it was put up three days ago. Jay hasn't addressed the project on his Twitter account, and it's doubtful that he will given that he rarely uses social media outside of a few past random Twitter rants. A rep from Jay's camp said that the rapper on the album isn't Jay, as far as he knows. We'll continue to update as more details emerge. You can listen to the album in full below.
