This past weekend, Jay Electronica emerged from the shadows — the place where he resides when he’s not busy releasing the odd new track and drunk tweeting — to appear at Chicago’s AAHH! Festival. Following his own solo set, Electronica and Chicago MC Vince Staples were brought out by the festival’s curator Common to debut a brand new remix of the Nobody’s Smiling single “Kingdom”. Since that little meeting of the minds may have been overshadowed by, say, Kanye West’s surprise 16-song set, Common has taken today to unveil the studio version.
Coming at the end of the anthemic cautionary tale, Electronica’s 90-second verse is all white-hot fury, detailing how he overcame the violence of the street for a life of transcendence. It’s also worth noting that he makes not one, but two separate Drake references: “Started from the bottom, now we really, really here” and “I told these fools they’d never Jimmy Degrassi me.” Insulting Drake via Degrassi is played out by now, but this one in particular stings a little harder.
Listen in below.