Paul Thompson has never once met David Icke.
There are conspiracy theories whispered by some Britons that the Rothschild family, a centuries-old banking dynasty, had a hand in Princess Diana’s death. No such evidence exists, but the rumors persist, the family shrouded in a sinister cloud of gossip. If there’s one thing heiress Kate Rothschild and her new beau Jay Electronica have in common, it’s that they inhabit worlds totally foreign to everyone else.
So you might expect the Roc Nation signee—already partial to obscure, cryptic subject matter that leans on the kind of innuendo she grew up in—to return from his global jet- and camel-setting with something truly mystical. Instead, yesterday’s Jay Z-assisted “We Made It” is a cloying play for the niches rap’s newer, younger innovators have been carving. Who knew you could get wifi in the Himalayas?
A mere week after he let loose of “Better In Tune With The Infinite”, Electronica is back, this time with Mr. Carter in tow. The last time they linked up was for the stellar “Shiny Suit Theory”—a smug celebration that sports one of Hova’s best post-retirement verse. Unfortunately, “We Made It” is a hollow gesture that recalls a certain Raekwon skit. Over Purpdogg’s beat (originally a Soulja Boy song, already remixed by Drake), Electronica shamelessly bites the Migos flow, shoehorning his political bent into a format not suited for it.
Meanwhile, the elder Jay has lost his ability to steal artfully, and instead tries to justify his fixation on his own auction purposes. Marcy’s demigod has made a career co-opting trends and making them his own; now, he sounds awkward and out of touch. If Act II does indeed surface this year, Electronica would be wise to cut from it any such aesthetic bandwagoning, or he’ll be sending some royalty checks to Atlanta.
