JAI PAUL
In 2007, a young man from Rayners Lane in London by the name of Jai Paul uploaded an unmixed demo of a song called “BTSTU” to his Myspace page. The first 19 seconds feature silence and then a slow build up before Jai (pronounced Jay) comes in and softly sings his first words, “don’t fuck with me, don’t fuck with me.” From that point forward, Jai stepped out of the shadows and into the music world, for better or worse.
The song took familiar sounds that we’ve heard throughout music and mashed them together to create an entirely new sound. “BTSTU” had the familiar beautiful crooning that you’d recognize in an R&B song, but it’s sung quietly, without urgency, half interested in even being there. It felt like you needed to be closer to the sound to properly hear it which created a tenderness, like you’re trying to hold onto this whisper of a song before it disappears. Then there are powerful synths that you’d expect to hear in an 80’s song taking center stage and disappearing. The drums also play a pivotal role as the motor of the song with the same kick drum sound you’d hear in a lot of dance music and even some rap. And just when you think you have enough to complete a song, Jai throws in laser sounds and a saxophone. There are no boring moments in the song. Even the silent parts feel planned, like they’re just another sound he is utilizing.
The individual components of the song didn’t seem like they’d go together. Lasers and saxophone haven’t ever had a good relationship. R&B vocals weren’t supposed to hide behind synths. Pop was supposed to be all about the artist. But Jai seemed like he only wanted to be another part in the sonic atmospheres he was creating, never trying to take center stage. This type of experimentation is more commonplace now, but for the early 2010s, being able to mix these different sounds together was still groundbreaking.
Jai was as influenced by the greats as he was his everyday life. His singing could be attributed to D’Angelo, his songs have a sad-version-of-Prince rhythm to them. He took the beach Boy’s lo-fi bedroom sound to his home in London. BTSTU had laser beams, his later songs had samples from the Harry Potter movies, Gossip Girl, and a 2006 Tomb Raider video game. The BBC’s Zane Lowe described Jai’s music as part J Dilla, part D’Angelo, but also full of individuality. We are all influenced by the greats, but it’s rare to be able to be just as good.
“BTSTU”, which Jai described in his first and only interview with Dazed in January of 2011 as the first time all his “ideas had come together into something really concise,” quickly gained notoriety throughout the blogsphere, UK radio, and eventually on an international scale. This popularity resulted in a label bidding war for Jai’s talents before he ultimately signed with XL in late 2010 (home to artists such as Frank Ocean, Radiohead, and Vampire Weekend).
In April 2011, the record was officially released by XL as "BTSTU (Edit)" and was eventually named the hottest record in the world by the BBC’s Zane Lowe. Although his popularity wasn’t just specific to the UK. Within the same month of the song’s formal release, Drake (“Dreams Money Can Buy”) and Beyoné (“End of Time”) had both sampled the young singer/producer. His influence on the pop world was growing with just one song out.
In 2012, Jai Paul uploaded his second single, “jasmine (demo)”, to his Soundcloud page. The song is built in the same Lo-fi realm as “BTSTU” with a little bit more funk. It utilizes rolling drums and claps with another powerful synth. Jai floats in and out of the song on a cloud, half mumbling, half beautifully singing about a former lover who won’t pay him attention anymore. The song reached the same level of critical acclaim and was named Best New Music by Pitchfork, heralded by the New York Times and was widely regarded by many others.
With just two singles out, and about as much fanfare as one can have for a man who had only done one interview, the genius that was Jai Paul seemed like it was on the right trajectory to grow. Music fans across the world were ready for an album.
Around this same time in the early 2010s, continued advancements in the tech world made having access to music making technology cheaper and easier than ever before. Now, the bedroom producer like Jai who always loved J Dilla and Michael Jackson were a couple clicks away from stardom. Jai wasn’t the first bedroom producer to go from posting on his MySpace page to being sampled by Beyoncé, but he was one of the largest examples at the time of what could be. He showed that this level of experimentation and creativity could be received well on a global scale.
As a result, experimental electro pop continued to grow. What was formerly known as neo soul was being pushed into the 2000s and becoming “alternative R&B.” James Blake’s self-titled EP took Aaliyiah and Kelis samples and stretched them out into pitched down electronic pop. The Weeknd sampled Beach House. Other artists like Holy Other, How To Dress Well, and many others were going from the bedroom to the big time and popping up everywhere. Fusing together elements of R&B with electronica, rock, hip hop and more; this new sound of electro pop was hurtling towards the mainstream.
While the world waited additional music from the young prodigy, it appeared like the music industry as a whole was morphing to meet him wherever his sound was heading.
Then tragedy would strike. On April 2013, someone leaked Jai’s music to a music streaming and purchasing service called Bandcamp. Some publications picked it up and promoted it, believing it was his album. Others claimed that Jai leaked it himself and was doing a publicity stunt. The leak was taken down after two days.
Jai wrote, in his only tweet at the time, “Demos on bandcamp were not uploaded by me, this is not my debut album. Please don’t buy. Statement to follow later. Thanks, Jai.” A statement never arrived from Jai and neither did an album. The leaks still exist around various parts of the internet and YouTube, but nothing formal was ever released.
Albums leaking early happens constantly and effect artists in many different ways. In May 2019, a leaked Playboi Carti song was number one on the Spotify Viral 50 Chart. This week Frank Ocean revealed he carried his hard drives with him everywhere to prevent his 2016 album’s Blond and Endless from leaking. It’s hardly debatable but Lil Wayne’s 2008 album, Tha Carter III, might’ve been the defining rap album of our lives had not so many songs leaked early. It is a risk that every artist takes. But for an artist like Jai who started in his bedroom, didn’t do interviews, and had only tweeted three times ever, the effects were devastating.
Years would go by before we heard anything new from Jai.
Finally, in March 2016, we heard something. Except it wasn’t a new song or a formal announcement on an album. Jai, together with his brother A.K. (Anup Kumar) Paul announced a new project titled the Paul Institute. The project initially was used to announce the release of A.K.'s new single, only available to Paul Institute members who signed up via the Institute's website, but their vision for it was much greater.
In November 2017, taking the Institution aspect of their new venture literally, the Paul brothers signed a lease in London's White City Place for a location to house the project. Later that month, they released two new singles by two new artists with production credits to both Jai and A.K. A year later, in 2018, two more singles by two more artists were released featuring production and writing credits from both the brothers. Jai may have stepped out of the limelight, but it seemed he was still interested in using his talents and creativity to influence the pop world around him and A.K. was helping push that forward.
Earlier this month, on June 1, 2019, we finally reached the conclusion of a story that has been 12 years in the making. Seven years since Jai’s last official single “jasmine (Demo),” and 12 years after “BTSTU” was uploaded to Myspace. Jai finally took the narrative into his own hands and returned with the launch of a new website, two new singles, and the ability to stream or download songs from the infamous leak in April 2013 labeled Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones). He also penned a long letter to fans accompanying the download, finally opening up about the infamous leak and the fall out he experienced from it.
In terms of the music, the long-awaited tracks reinforce the themes that were created in his first two singles so many years ago. In the accompanying letter, Jai reveals that the leak consisted of a random collection of tracks that were written and recorded between 2007 and 2013 and that they sit in various stages of completion. 13 out of the 16 songs are labeled “Unfinished” or “Demo” and four songs are under a minute long. The rough mixes and incomplete songs make the release feel largely like a sketchbook of ideas rather than a comprehensive release. Jai said he maintained the same sequencing that was released when the album leaked originally but some of they were unable to clear some of the samples (Harry Potter, Gossip Girl, Tomb Raider).
Still, despite being mostly incomplete, the EP has some amazing ideas revealing the brilliance of Jai’s mind. “Str8 Outta Mumbai,” the longest song without the “Unfinished” or “Demo” label, takes a sample from the soundtrack of the 70’s Bollywood film, Meera, and creates an unforgettable duet. Similar to how rap songs use samples as the focal point of their songs, Jai took a sample of Vani Jairam singing from the Meera soundtrack and made her the central part of the entire song. As Jai sings behind a funky baseline to a lover who can’t seem to make up their mind, the song builds and builds before the sample takes over. It’s an unforgettable song and an example of the brilliance that awaited us had the album ever had a proper release.
There are other standout songs. Of the songs that are longer in length, one wonders how faraway ideas like “All Night – Unfinished” and “100,000 – Unfinished” were from completion. The outlines of the song are incredible and expand on the same atmospheres that were created in “BTSTU (edit)” and “jasmine (demo)” and it’s frustrating to think they’ll never get properly filled in. Some of the shorter songs like “Raw Beat – Unfinished” and “Baby Beat – Unfinished” are incredible tasters of his sound and I long to know which direction they would’ve ended up going.
In the letter to fans, Jai describes the difficulties he endured from having the music leaked. He feels he was denied the opportunity to finish his work and share it in its best possible form and hated the reaction he received online. These feelings soon caused him to disengage with everything. The songs were very personal for him; these are things he started writing as a teenager and he felt they were ripped from him. The pain he experienced is evident throughout the letter and it is obvious it took many years and lots of hard work for him to get to where he is today from a mental and emotional standpoint.
“BTSTU”, Jai’s first ever single that that appeared on his MySpace page over a decade ago now, allegedly stood for BACK TO SAVE THE UNIVERSE. The hook on this song sings “I know I’ve been gone a long time, I’m back and I want what is mine.” And in the past month, it has seemed that Jai might actually be back. The two singles he released with the EP are just as incredible (and actually complete) as anything he’s put out to date. Maybe this is just the beginning. Maybe A.K. and the Paul Institute continue to work with young artists to create an entirely new sound and Jai is eventually ready to step into the spotlight once again, willing to show the world his sound. Maybe there’s another album sitting on Jai’s laptop right now.
Or maybe the letter Jai penned upon the official release of his unfinished songs is closer to how he actually feels. Describing the pain, heartache, and breakdown he endured as result of the leak. Jai will donate 10% of all merchandise sales to SANE, a leading UK mental health charity. Maybe the pain, stress, and reality won’t ever be worth it to him.
He also said that he accepts “that there is no way to put that shit back in the box” now that the music is out. That there is “no way to fix what happened and continue down our original path.” He feels like “it’s sad to think about what could have been, but it is what it is and I had to let go.” Regardless of the future Jai envisioned for himself, the leaks that shook up his entire world six years ago blasted all of the shit out of the box. And there’s no going back from there; for better or worse.