Dave East, Jay Electronica, & 070 Phi – “No Hoodie (Nothin’ To Lose)”
It’s been a full decade since rap enigma Jay Electronica broke out with the underground smash “Exhibit C.” He still hasn’t released an album. (He has since helpfully explained that albums are a “false concept.”) Jay Elec doesn’t even come out with a new verse very often; I don’t think we’ve heard from him since he appeared alongside Justin Bieber and Poo Bear on “Hard 2 Face Reality” more than a year and a half ago. But today, Jay Electronica is on a new song.
On the new track “No Hoodie (Nothin’ To Lose),” Jay Electronica appears alongside Dave East, the busy Harlem rapper who plays Method Man on Hulu’s Wu-Tang: An American Saga, and 070 Phi, a New Jersey sing-rapper from the same crew that gave us Kanye West’s protege 070 Shake. On the song, Dave East and Jay Elec rap about suffering from homelessness. Both rappers have been homeless at different times in their lives; they aren’t playing characters. Jay Elec: “Reagan to Trump, ain’t nothin’ changed / Politics is for the politicians / Full meltdown in this melting pot, while I roam the block with no pot to piss in.”
The song is a benefit for Hoodies For The Homeless, a nonprofit that aims to help homeless people listen to it below.
“No Hoodies (Nothin’ To Lose)” is out now on Mass Appeal Records.