I’ve discovered something interesting over the past 6 to 8 months about Jai Paul fans. They’re becoming increasingly more impatient waiting for new music from him, especially after a gang of his demos leaked at once back in April 2013 which made every single Best Of 2013 list worth reading (mine included). In more recent events during the wait on new Jai Paul material there was another artist who sounded similar to him that was at one point was thought to be him followed by his brother producer/vocalist A.K. Paul (who leaked at least one of his early demos years ago) who emerged with a track he produced and appeared on that only made people anticipate a proper full length album from Jai Paul all the more rather than sate rabid fan appetites for the time being. I’ve noticed that these Jai Paul fans seem to be chomping at the bit to discuss his music except for the longest they just didn’t feel comfortable disclosing their fandom…that is, until they realize that they’re in the company of another Jai Paul fan. It’s like being a part of Fight Club but instead of fighting you just talk about how you’re both surprised that Big Boi’s “Higher Res” featuring Jai Paul & Little Dragon didn’t singlehandedly revolutionize music back when it initially dropped. Or “Flip Out” for the matter…
In light of recent events, I decided to write this twelve step program out as a form of methadone to tide you Jai Paul fiends over for a while. Who am I kidding? I did this post to essentially help you all out by telling you who and what I’M currently listening to until Jai Paul or A.K. Paul finally decide to bless us real heads only with an album. I could also go for a Sampha project. Or a Sampha x Jessie Ware project. Or a new Eric Lau album. Or… You get the idea. I decided against the traditional list format since bloggers fucked the whole game up by not sticking to the typical list rules of 5, 10, 12, 15, 20 and up. I’m so sick of seeing lists with dumbass titles like “17 Canadian Rappers That Aren’t Drake” for instance. Why not just make it 20, you lazy blogging bastard? Anyways, here are a gang of artists and projects I’m listening to the interim during the elusive Jai Paul’s absence from the music scene. NOTE: Sam Smith didn’t make this list because his music kinda depresses me. Fuck I wanna be depressed for when I’m trying to distract myself from the fact I’m already NOT listening to Jai Paul because he wants to be a damb music ninja? I do like his album but nah…
If I’m not including Sam Smith that pretty much means that James Blake is out. I love James Blake’s music as well but I usually reserve it for the the Fall as I feel like it will fit my mood better during the change of the seasons. Plus it gives me the urge to hang around Charlesgate East and West wearing a peacoat whilst sitting on a rock writing letters to my exes in cursive. Worry not because that still leaves many options I often rotate to fill the void of Jai Paul taking his sweet ass time to release music. I bet him, Jay Electronica & D’Angelo are all in a compound listening to each other’s albums and laughing maniacally right now while FaceTiming with Dr. Dre at Apple. Enough lead in, here it is…
Ben Khan
There was a stretch where some bloggers and music writers thought that Ben Khan was a “Jai Paul clone”. Some even speculated that he was just Jai Paul releasing music under a psuedonym. Others thought Ben Khan was really A.K. Paul & Jai Paul wasn’t even a real person. After Ben Khan began releasing music on a regular basis leading up to his excellent “1992 EP” which dropped between April and May 2014 it’s helped to significantly lessen the sting caused by Jai Paul’s abandonment. Listen to it here:
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Oscar Key Sung
New Zealander Oscar Key Sung first appeared on my radar as a part of the beat tape/production world via my work with Producers I Know which then evolved into them performing over their own production and releasing it to the public. The same thing happened to me with James Blake and Sampha previously so I was totally open to it when Oscar Key Sung began dropping his own music via Soundcloud. In March 2014 he released the incredible “Holograms EP” following the overwhelming response to the lead single “Holograms”. I’ve been playing it regularly since it was released and it helps me deal with the fact Jai Paul is the musical equivalent of a deadbeat dad. How come he don’t want us, man?
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Phil Beaudreau
Phil Beaudreau x Dawaun Parker are AoE. Phil Beaudreau is a multi instrumentalist & vocalist and when teamed with Dawaun Parker they’ve crafted a sound that make it increasingly more and more easy to deal with the void caused by the absence of Jai Paul. All you need to do is hear “Anyway” or his gorgeous Beach Boys cover/version “IJWMFTT” to realize he’s an artist to give a listen to. All you need to do is hear his album to know he’s an artist that you need to be a fan of going forward. Listen to “ETHER”…
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Sampha
Yeah. We’ve mentioned UK producer/vocalist Sampha several times in the past few days already but the fact of the matter is I’ve been playing not only his old production collection “Sundanza” but also the EP he released last summer “Dual EP” like they were both 2014 releases. If you saw the number of plays in my iTunes for “Without” & “Indecision” alone you’d start doing math in your head like… “Oh. He was gon’ be on this list regardless, huh?”. I’d like to see an album from him drop too if we’re keeping it a buck. Then a collaborative one with him AND Jessie Ware since we’re already taking Honesty Ave.
Raleigh Ritchie
I knew Raleigh Ritchie as an actor first. He’s “Sam’s little brother from “Adulthood” and “Grey Worm, commander of The Unsullied” but he’s also a vocalist whose made some of my favorite music of the past 18 months between his “The Middle Child EP” and “Black & Blue EP”. It all started when I stumbled on his song “Stay Inside” last Summer (the original, not the remix) which then led me to “In Too Deep”. Lately I’m a big fan of “A Moor”, “Stronger Than Ever” & “Overdose”. Music fans are still catching on to his back catalog of musical output so I’d love speeding up the discovery process overseas with this post…
Majid Jordan
Majid Jordan is a production/songwriting duo (formerly known as Good People) hailing from Toronto, land of plentiful curly headed goddesses that serve as muses for great music. You might better know them for their production/songwriting work with Drake but I’d much prefer to focus on their releases, “Afterhours” and “A Place Like This EP” (Because Drake…). After hearing “A Place Like This” you just know you could stand to hear more stuff like this in headphones on a regular basis. I mean since Jai Paul wanna lock himself away in an impenetrable Fortress Of Musical Solitude n’ shit.
PARTYNEXTDOOR
More brand new OVOness inspired by the T.Dot/6/YZZ area. “Her Way”. “Options”. “Bout It”. ‘Nuff said. Cop “PARTYNEXTDOOR TWO” and don’t worry about Jai Paul, kids. He will show up when he shows up. We’re good until then…provided we have condoms on deck & at least two syringes with pure adrenaline in them on deck, that is…
Bayou
It’s odd how Bayou isn’t on more music fans radars stateside yet. I mention this dude and I often draw blank stares like I just asked someone if they can explain to me why the Celtics haven’t traded Jeff Green yet or why they didn’t draft a big man. My introduction to Bayou came through Tumblr and Soundcloud via the songs “Cherry Cola” and “Forever Deluxe”. He’s since released a project called “Loopback” after releasing new music on Soundcloud over the past few months. Listen to it below:
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Reggie B
Reggie B has been one of my favorites in R&B going back to 2007 when I first heard him on the album “Future Music” with Daru Jones. He then had the heavily slept on LP “Go” followed by a ton of great music released on his own label INnateSounds that too many people aren’t aware of. My jawn right now is his latest project on Tokyo Dawn called “DNA”. You all need this album in your Jai Paul-less lives…
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Low Leaf
Low Leaf is one of the few humans on this here Sphere Called Earth that make me feel like a slacker. Kenny Fresh’s label Fresh Selects dropped a full length from her that has become one of my favorite albums of the year hands down. Get to listening. I’d write more about it but I honestly feel like her music speaks directly to your soul enough that I don’t need to sell it…
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FKA Twigs
If you haven’t been listening to FKA Twigs lately then I honestly question your commitment to both Sparkle Motion & music fandom. Yet another product of the UK, she emerged through Bandcamp and Soundcloud with joints like “Ache”, “Breathe”, “Hide”, “Papi Pacify” & “Water Me”. Post the overwhelmingly positive reception for the song & visuals to “Two Weeks” it’s looking like we’ll need to acquire “LP1” to help off stave off any Jai Paul pangs we may experience later on. Do it…
Jessie Ware
This one should be fairly easy. First, do me a favor and listen to “Tough Love”. Now listen to “Share It All”. Now wait for her to release the full length in October and cop it. Got it? Good.
So there it is. My personal twelve step program to dealing with what can almost be diagnosed a musical addiction to Jai Paul. I would tell you how many times I’ve played the leaked demos that dropped last Spring but what’s the point? You can guess how many it is by people’s reactions when a DJ drops “10000” during a set. We’ll get through this, people. One day at a time. Just work the program I’ve outlined here today. Good luck to you all. Have a great Saturday.
One.