Kendrick Lamar‘s scathing verse on Big Sean‘s “Control” sent hip-hop fans and media buzzing this week. Lamar’s appearance grabbed so much attention that it eclipsed the song’s other notable guest star, New Orleans emcee Jay Electronica. The reclusive rhymer was even the butt of some Twitter jokes, after many fans decreed that the younger Lamar had outshined him. Despite the criticism, Jay Electronica shared his thoughts on the song, the buzz and the brash rapper from Compton in an interview with Revolt TV.
“I like the song and the stir it’s causing,” he said. “It’s good for rap music.”
In the wake of “Control” being released, rappers ranging from Pusha T to Joe Budden to Big Daddy Kane have spoken about Kendrick’s verse–which featured boasts about the West Coast native being the new “King of New York” and also featured Lamar calling out several notable hip-hop stars by name, such as Drake, B.o.B., and even Sean and Jay Elect. Since then, other emcees have recorded responses to Kendrick, including Joell Ortiz and Lupe Fiasco.
Interestingly, Jay Electronica also revealed that he had been on the song for quite some time before Kendrick was added, and he didn’t even know that there was another featured artist on the song until a few days before the song was leaked to the public.
“A month or two ago, Big Sean asked me to be on this record with him for his album. He had a demo hook on it at the time. I did my verse and sent it back,” Jay explained. “I found out a couple days before it was released that Kendrick had put a verse on it.”
