The cultivation of a legend hit overdrive with the release of Electronica’s debut EP Act I: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge) in 2007. (Electronica did use Dilla internet beats for a few tracks, including “So What You Saying.”) One adventure saw him connect with J Dilla, notably strict when it came to choosing collaborators, which more or less came to nothing. Legend has it that he left his home city of New Orleans on New Year’s Day 1996, aged 19, beginning a wandering journey through hip-hop epicentres such as Philadelphia, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Detroit, and New York. To piece together Electronica’s life before the age of 30 you’d need a squad of private detectives, spiritual mediums, and The Goonies. And he seems an amiable fellow without the electrifying, spiritual presence of Prince.

Jay has never been a recluse like D’Angelo was during his lean years-you could go to one of his shows or hit him up on social media. It’s true that he hasn’t exactly lived the life of Jeremiah Sand, setting up camp in the middle of nowhere with his acolytes.

Where did this modern day myth come from and how did it grow? Electronica’s official line a decade ago was that he had no idea. So lord knows what he made of Jay Electronica, a rapper who for well over a decade boasted a solo output of just a handful of tracks, yet carried a sense of mythology more suited to Spartan heroes or Scottish aquatic monsters. According to Rock’s gospel, an oeuvre of just two records didn’t cut it no matter how deep the music’s greatness. It’s all body of work at the end of the day.” So said noted pop culturist Chris Rock to GQ around the release of D’Angelo’s third album Black Messiah when quizzed on whether D was a great artist.

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