Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones)

Didn't think I'd be giving a demo tape this high a rating, but here we are. I remember the hype when this official LP dropped in 2019, but the context was well before my time as a music nerd and I couldn't fully appreciate the narrative behind the release. Hearing these tracks now, I'm floored by how well-realized and rich this tape is melodically – Paul is willing to saturate the entire production space at once, but does so masterfully without destroying the mix or fatiguing the listener. While it understandably reads in a disjointed fashion, this LP has such high highs that I'm willing to overlook the lack of flow. The arrangements and synth timbres are just too good to deny, and I appreciate how Jai came back to what must've been a crushing artistic blow and reclaimed it in his own way.

International retrofuturism. That's the Ruff Criminal 10 second review. But I owe everyone here a greater explanation, as this is my pick for the list. 2013 was an incredibly formative year for me when it comes to music: I just mentioned this in my review of Because the Internet, but that was the year when I first listened to Frank Ocean's channel ORANGE, then started tuning into Pitchfork's reviews and lists and began expanding my musical palate. It's also when Yeezus dropped and melted my brain, Chance the Rapper's Acid Rap was another world-changer for me, but then there's this album. Maybe the most special to me. I'm not sure what tuned me into this guy initially, but I think I found him slightly before my Pitchfork awakening. His song BTSTU (the final track on here) was sampled by Drake on a song called "Dreams Money Can Buy." I was a big fan of Drake pre-2013, and say what you will about that guy, but he had an ear for talent. That was my likely exposure point to Jai Paul, and he only had two tracks officially released: BTSTU and Jasmine, both incredible and unusual R&B tracks. Anyway, not long after I had become a fan of Jai Paul, word spread that he had dropped his album....or so we thought. By the time I went to listen to the album, it had been revealed that, despite being available for sale on Bandcamp, it wasn't an official release. The album had been stolen and leaked. Even Paul's own label thought it was him being cheeky and mysterious. But it wasn't, and he recoiled into obscurity, never to be heard from again....or so we thought. More on that later. I, being a new fan obsessed with his unique sound, had already been scrounging the internet looking for demos and stuff that he had posted on his myspace in the past. I found a download of the "album." I can't remember where I was when I first listened, but it was akin to being struck by lightning. This guy responsible for Jasmine and BTSTU had more in the chamber. Like so many great albums, this one's self-produced, and his production is unbelievable. Even in its fragmented, unfinished state, you could hear how powerful he is. Sonic tags akin to J. Dilla, sounding like the engine of a spaceship backfiring. Bass and guitar almost literally drowned in filters to the point that it sounds like the music's coming from underwater (listen to "Vibin" and "All Night"). Percussion and 808s blended in these polyrhythmic songs that seemingly import traditional Indian sounds to the pop charts in the year 2099. Who on earth could make, let alone even dream up, something like "Str8 Outta Mumbai"?? Throughout the album, synths and vocal elements drop in and out of the mix like it's all a game. Meanwhile, atop all that cyberpunk chaos is a guy faintly crooning like he's D'Angelo or Prince or something. Like everything's totally normal. I fell in love with this immediately, listened ceaselessly for years and years. Mind you, it was never official, so I was relying on sketchy downloads and fan-made music videos--a "Jasmine" music video set to scenes from Apocalypse Now, a black and white video of Robert Pattinson from some nameless movie was the music video for "All Night" (both of those are still on youtube by the way). The world fell in love with it too: it shook the world of underground music nerds, made year-end lists for major critics (even though it wasn't even a real album!), and you can check wikipedia to see the kind of musicians inspired by this. Could he have become a household name with the proper backing and release and all that stuff? I guess we'll never know. Nothing else really came from Jai Paul until 2019, when he released two new songs and decided to finally *officially* "release" this "album" - same track sequencing, very minor changes to the songs (though it lost a few Harry Potter samples, as well as the beautiful vocal intro to "All Night" - "The water's absolutely perfect....I've missed Ghana" - hilariously from an old Tomb Raider game). He didn't finish it, he just left it, finally handed it to us as is. Seemingly a resignation to the fact that it had become a part of his fan's and the music world's DNA for six years. It's a shame how that leak happened, and the toll it took on him seems to be immeasurable. Someone robbed this man of a trajectory that I can only imagine. But even with nothing else, he made this. It's like Charles Laughton directing only one movie, and it's "Night of the Hunter" - a cinematic language all his own. The same is true here: there's nothing like this album, even in patchwork artifact form. It's disjointed, splintered, obviously unfinished, and a bit all over the place. But that's part of the charm. It's like the Rosetta Stone, it's broken and not even the full story, but it's monumental nonetheless. There's perfection in imperfection. It makes it real, and human. There's some lyrics on channel ORANGE, on "Monks": "We're lost in a jungle underneath these clouds, there's a monsoon that never ends. A coke-white tiger woke us from our slumber, to guide and protect us 'til the end." Jai Paul is, for me, the coke-white tiger. And he and Frank both awoke me from my slumber that year. Whether you love this album like me or not, I do think it's truly worthy of listening before you die, because I've yet to find anything else like it. If I can put just one person on, make just one person get struck by lightning in the way I was, this pick will have been a success. Thank you all for listening. Final note: the song "Jasmine" is and has been my most played song on iTunes since 2012. It was also included in GTAV on the radio station Radio Mirror Park. That game came out in late 2013, and for the last 11 years that I've been playing that game (we're talking more than a thousand hours), no matter what I'm doing, if "Jasmine" is on the radio, I'm cruising. Favorite tracks (unranked): Str8 Outta Mumbai, Zion Wolf Theme, Genevieve, Raw Beat, Crush, Jasmine, 100,000, Desert River (I knew this song as "Eagle" on the old leak), All Night, BTSTU. Album art: Pure chaos. Elements from previous covers, like the bald man on the right side with his face blurred (he was from the BTSTU single cover on youtube). A collage of animals, space, technology, culture. Jai with the footy jersey, face painted, bizarre futuristic haircut. Behind him in the fez is his brother AK Paul (also a musician and producer, also awesome, together they formed the Paul Institute and they are much better Paul Brothers than the ones America has to offer). I will love this forever. For me, it's iconic. 5/5

something actually interesting and challenging on this list?

Really liked this! Never heard of the artists, but the Wiki page is incredible. Music slaps hard. Really cool find. Thanks for sharing.

Woah, big album today...for my brother! This was his pick and I'm glad he included it! I've heard him mention this album and how it got leaked a long time ago and then eventually made it's way out for real. Very unique and sort of conceptual in that most of the songs feel like demos and are listed as (unfinished). I can't wait to hear his much longer explanation for his inclusion here but I think this is a good pick especially with all the other albums we have gotten.

Bubbly and quirky and pretty fun to listen to in its best moments. The fragmented aspect of these songs wore thin with me though, as did the start/stop effects and fluctuating volume. At times I felt like I was listening to an old chewed up cassette. Fave Songs: Genevieve, Str8 Outta Mumbai, Jasmine, Crush, Zion Wolf Theme

This should come with a warning label, sort of like strobe effects in a movie can cause seizures I felt like this was going to cause me a seizure. I could only listen to half of it. 2 stars.

Pretty great beats! Good for the road trip I was on at the time.

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Str8 outta Mumbai, Genevieve, Jasmine, 100.000, BTSTU

Good. I liked it

Not uninteresting, but I don't find the level of some of the accolades for this a little perplexing. It seems pretty fragmentary and unpolished to me. Admittedly I'm not the biggest fan of this sort of super-synthetic constructed music. Still happy to have been introduced to an artist I'd never heard of before.

I definitely like the elements that go into this.... very droning beats, electronic focused, with a lot of experimental vocals and samples. I think it starts super strong with Str8 Outt Mumbai and Zion Wolf.... definitely engaging and cool. Unfortunately i think the rest of it definitely misses the mark, being experimental without being engaging... maybe Jasmine gets halfway there. Still an interesting listen.

Interesting beats. It sounds much better than some of the finished albums on this board. Seems like this was more of a passion project than a job to him. Thumbs up.

A frustrating album, if anything. Jai Paul clearly has the skill, but man, is it annoying to hear a thirty second snippet of something that's been in the works for a decade. Clearly influenced electronic music, with the likes of Toro Y Moi and Neon Indian springing to mind. Just... needs to get over the finish line. Favorite tracks: "Jasmine", "BTSTU", "Zion Wolf Theme"

This was far more impressive than I expected it to be. Sucks his album got leaked and then it ruined his motivation. If this ended up being finished this really could’ve been great because even with the demo tapes it’s still pretty good. 6.7/10

Bait one still

An interesting inclusion because of the story (demos leaked in 2013 and officially released almost unchanged in 2019) that may say something about the music business at the time. However, it sounds like what it is - a bunch of unfinished homemade R'nB and pop demos. Rating: 2 Playlist track: Jasmine - Demo Date listened: 26/11/24

I find it strange that an unfinished album is so high acclaimed. I did not really enjoy listening

It's certainly interesting as a historic document and for its story, but it is bunch of unfinished demos. It feels really weird rating it above any sort of complete artistic statement. This wasn't intended for release by the artist, and it shows. The audio levels are frustratingly wavering.

I realise it was unfinished, but I don’t like the weird silences/drop outs. It sounds disjointed. I hear talent, but also a huge amount of bedroom producer herders. Not for me.

I was annoyed by that experiment with fades as if it were a damaged vinyl, the music is not "anything out of this world" to take such experimental liberties.

No idea what to expect here, Indian pop music maybe? Ok it's... yeah, Indian pop music? "Str8 outta Mumbai" is annoying as fuck. Sounds like 3 songs all playing at once. Gen Z pop I guess. After a few more songs, this barely counts as music. It's like a sample bank of annoying shit stapled together. Into the bin. 1/5.

Pop, R&B. No me han gustado nada esos saltos en el ritmo. Me pone nervioso. ¿Cómo se puede proponer para la lista un disco como este? Un 1.