In different ways, the picture you see above sums up just about everything that we know of Jai Paul, which is pretty much nothing. Releasing his first song demo way back in 2007 titled "BTSTU"(which Drake sampled in his "Dreams Money Can Buy"), the song didn't pick up steam until 2010 at which point absolutely nothing else had been released by Jai. Then in 2012 he struck again with one of the year's best songs in "Jasmine", a beautifully beating track where his lyrics can barely be made out except for the song's namesake. Given his track record for musical updates, his absolutely nonexistent relationship with his fans, and overall obscurity, the odds weren't in our favor to get any new material any time soon. Or so we thought...
In typical, erratic Jai Paul fashion, we were treated to a pleasant surprise Saturday night. Jai released his first full-length LP unannounced, or at least someone under the guise of Jai Paul did. And quite frankly it's a game-changer. This London-based artist (yes, another one) could stand toe-to-toe with a falsetto voice as strong as Justin Timberlake's or as haunting as The Weeknd's. He also has an eclectic ability to mix electronic synths with guitar riffs not seen since Daft Punk. To put it bluntly, the kid is a monster. The picture speaks to his music as sometimes you don't know what the hell is going on, only that you like it. In these instances, it's like Jai is beating you over the head with an awesome musical sensory overload. An example of this is all of Track 5, where Jai Paul goes in on the beat like LeBron on the Celtics, Game 6: the ish is bananas.
Yet there are other times Jai Paul renders you into a lull so soothing that you really wonder if there's really a girl out there who deserves to be serenaded by this man of the hour, like with Track 11 and "Jasmine".
Speaking of tracks, none of the songs are actually named besides the (mastered versions) of the ones mentioned previously. To be honest, this whole happening has been bizarre to say the least, and I'm not unconvinced Jai Paul is a 30-something still sitting locked up in a room in his parents' house. But whatever the case, we have ourselves a near perfect album. Behold the young god Jai Paul.
Dylan said 9, I said 10 so..
Final Verdict: 9.5 it is.
+/-This album is probably more different than anything you've heard in recent memory
+ The sounds on this album are dynamic and psychedelic, combining with Jai's smooth voice for a new sound
+ The guitar riffs and solos are unbelievable
- Sometimes there's a bit too much going on at once
UPDATE: apparently this "album" wasn't released by Jai Paul, as he claims his laptop was stolen
I don't know if I buy it, but regardless, if you can get ahold of the collection of songs you'll be doing yourself a favor, the man on the tracks is undoubtedly Jai Paul.
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