Radiohead, James Blake, and this weekend, Frank Ocean, have all released new albums in 2016 after years of hype, rumors, and waiting from the music consuming masses. All three have graced us with amazing albums, but there is one more reclusive artist who I am waiting for a new album from, and he doesn’t even officially have a first album to begin with. Jai Paul (not to be confused with similarly named artists like Sean Paul and Jai Wolf) is a British electronic and hip hop musician with two official singles and some serious anticipation for an official album.
His first single, “BTSTU,” was released as a demo in 2007, and then it had a re-release in 2010 once Jai Paul signed to XL Records. Just off this one song he fostered attention from BBC Music and Rolling Stone while also landing a spot on Pitchfork’s Top Tracks of 2011 list (#29). In 2012 his second, and only other, single “Jasmine” was posted to his SoundCloud. Even though it had technically been two years between songs, “Jasmine” was received with just as much positivity and excitement from NME to Stereogum.
Another year passed, and then in 2013 a Bandcamp account posted what appeared to be Jai Paul’s debut album, except it apparently was not. The album had missing track titles and should have been released through XL Records, but that did not stop the hype train of this mysterious release, which was removed quickly and Jai Paul tweeted (and to this day, his only tweet) that the release was not official or his album. To this day, those mystery demos remain the only songs of his that exist.
Here we are in 2016 with only two official singles and a handful of unofficial songs as we wait wait for an actual album. If the fervor around his music is not enough to convince you that we need more music from him, I’ve got a few reasons why we all need Jai Paul back in our lives and an album from him soon.
“BTSTU”
This song is gorgeous. There is simply no other way to put it. The opening lyrics of “Don’t f**k with me, don’t f**k with me” and glitchy beats should not equate to something so beautiful, yet the delicate way he sings the words and the rest of the music curling around the harsh sounds creates something so lovely. If I could be a song or get lost in a song, it’s for sure this one. I definitely feel like this single indicates the grand things he can do as a musician, and we need more from him.
Drake and Beyonce are fans
Drake sampled “BTSTU” in his song “Dreams Money Can Buy” and Beyonce also sampled BTSTU in her song “End of Time.” Imagine the possible collaborations that could one day happen if Jai Paul ever came out from his artistic hiding.
South Asian influence
Jai Paul comes from South Asian heritage, and that can be heard on a few of his songs. One of the demo songs from the leaked release is “Str8 Outta Mumbai,” which samples from “Baala Main Bairaagan Hoongi” from the 1979 Hindi film “Meera.” British-Pakistani rapper Riz MC (also known as actor Riz Ahmed) did a cover/remix of “Jasmine” that is absolutely wonderful and keeps everything in the South Asian heritage musician family. Also, though maybe not wholly related, Track #4 from the leaked album, samples Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) song “A is for Allah,” a song to help Muslim children learn Arabic. Even if the South Asian influence does not appear evident in every song, Jai Paul still has significance to South Asian representation in Western music.
Love for Harry Potter
All you need to know is that he has official picture of himself wearing a 'Harry Potter' shirt and frequently uses sound bites from the movies in his songs. The “Intro” for the leaked album uses audio of Harry and Ron in the Flying Ford Anglia from Chamber of Secrets and another song starts with Lupin’s transformation scene in Prisoner of Azkaban. A Harry Potter fan that makes his love for the series apparent in his music? Yes, please.
Paul Institute
Jai Paul also keeps things all in the family by frequently working with his brother A.K. Paul (seen above hanging with Miguel in studio). The closest taste we’ve had to new music from Jai Paul was earlier this year when him and his brother announced Paul Institute and released A.K. Paul’s new song Landcruisin’.
