Music
A brief history of Jai Paul, the inimitable producer that reshaped pop
After years out of the spotlight, Jai Paul is back with the re-release of material that was tragically leaked in 2013 – plus two new tracks. To celebrate, we take a look at his biggest moments so far.
In June 2019, Jai Paul returned. The Rayners Lane beatmaker we thought was lost to the ether dropped two new tracks, a fancy website, and an official re-release of Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones), an album of demos leaked back in 2013.
Before then, even the limited discography that he had released brilliantly reshaped what pop could be – and he inspired a near-decade of producers in the process. Here's a brief overview of how a London artist with a handful of records came to have a seismic – and enduring – impact on UK music.
2010: BTSTU (Demo) appears out of nowhere
It all started with BTSTU (Demo), the first Jai Paul track that burst onto the scene back in 2010. It was a strange but wonderful mix of R&B, electronic bass, and falsetto lyrics that sounded like Prince, if he was from West London and was into making lovelorn bangers in his bedroom. It went all the way from the music blogs (remember those?) to Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show.
2011: Drake and Beyoncé sample BTSTU, and Paul signs to XL
The song didn't stop gaining traction, eventually even catching the ear of big names like Drake and Beyoncé, both of whom sampled Paul on Dreams Money Can Buy and End Of Time, respectively, in 2011.
It wasn't bad for a 21-year-old producer who "didn’t think anyone would like it", as he modestly told Dazed in a 2013 feature that remains the only interview he has ever granted. He continued, "Music to me was just a hobby and, in a way, I didn’t care about showing it anyone." He went on to say he didn’t even own an iPod (ah, the 2010s) and didn’t know what iTunes was (bless him). Plus, he was into making "alternative pop" and not on an ironic tip, either. "I’m one of those boring guys who found the music he liked as a kid and stuck with it", he explains. And that music – "from The Beatles to ELO, Queen to Michael Jackson" – shows that he was always about making accessible music in his own unique way.
2011: Jai Paul signs to XL
In the Dazed interview, Paul also discussed getting signed to XL, who released BTSTU (Edit) officially in 2011; an early sign that he was always going to tinker with his beats. This was the era when you could drop a banger on your MySpace and get major label interest, as Paul did. But the offer of a serious bag wasn’t enough for our man Jai, who describes himself as "kind of a hippie" in walking away from the big bucks, admitting that "it was kind of like a childhood dream to be on XL". Just another way in which Paul was moving like an innovator, years before every UK artist was shunning the majors to do things their own way.
2012: Jai Paul releases his second song, Jasmine
Next up was 2012’s Jasmine (demo), which remains his last label-backed release. While his debut was lovelorn and aching, this time Paul was ready to grind, with squelchy guitar funk basslines, echoing reverb, and some defiantly bad-ass claps and clicks. It’s still hard to make out all the lyrics without Rap Genius open next to you, but it remains a sexier side to Jai Paul which has lost none of its futuristic brilliance today.
2013: A collection of Jai Paul's demos is illegally leaked
Now is the point where things get a little sketchy. April 2013 saw a collection of Jai Paul tracks appear on Bandcamp for sale. At the time, it was believed that this was a genuine release from Paul; he quickly released a statement denouncing it, claiming it was a leak. Rumours persisted that this was a tactical leak by Paul himself, something that he always denied, providing his first in-depth explanation of the situation when he made his surprise return on Saturday 1 June, 2019, with two new tracks. Alongside his statement, he also shared a remade album of the 2013 leaked material entitled Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones).
You can read Paul's full statement about the illegal leak here. Basically, he’s still not sure how his music got out, but the fact it did so upset him to the point that he eventually had a breakdown and became unable to work. Paul describes having "various kinds of therapy", which have helped him return to making music.
2017: Jai Paul founds the Paul Institute
Another thing that Paul says has had a positive impact on his mental health, and helped him return to music, is setting up the Paul Institute. The Institute, which he founded in 2016 with his brother and co-producer/mastering engineer, A.K Paul and Muz Azur, is a collective-slash-platform-slash record label designed to help young artists deal with the pressures of the industry. So far they've released music from up-and-comers FabianaPalladino, Ruthven, HIRA, and REINEN, all of whom have a slightly similar future-soul vibe to Paul's own music.
2019: Jai Paul releases two soulful new songs, and breaks his silence
As for Paul's new tracks, they span a double B-side of 2013 material which has been released on limited 500 copy white label vinyl, as well as digitally. Do You Love Her Now is not going to stop the Prince comparisons anytime soon, with its divine vocals and warm, powerful chords. He is a lot more like Jasmine in that it’s got those slightly menacing strings, but the vocal is much clearer than before, even if it is similarly longing in its subject matter. Both show he’s not lost a step, and will whet your appetite for the album proper.
You can check out the full 04-03 (Bait Ones) album on all major platforms now.
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