Over the weekend, world-influenced beatmaker Jai Paul suddenly unveiled what was thought to be his debut album on Bandcamp. But controversy now surrounds the release, which might just be a fake.
A tweet from the musician — and the first ever, it should be noted — reads: "To confirm: demos on bandcamp were not uploaded by me, this is not my debut album. Please don't buy. Statement to follow later. Thanks, Jai."
The album bore all kinds of resemblance to Paul's earlier work on songs like "BTSTU" and "Jasmine," with their chopped-up, filtered samples of music from all over the world, such as hip-hop, bhangra and calypso. But a number of factors, including the fact that Paul is signed to XL Recordings, and the generic track names ("Track 1," "Track 2," and so on, through to "Track 16"), seem out of place.
The album has now been taken down from Bandcamp, with rumours swirling as to the reason why.
This, of course, follows Dazed Digital writer Owen Myers' tweet that Paul told him, "This is an unofficial release. Official releases are handled by XL." He also relayed that "Jai Paul had his laptop stolen," and that "there will be a statement at 3pm."
A tweet from the musician — and the first ever, it should be noted — reads: "To confirm: demos on bandcamp were not uploaded by me, this is not my debut album. Please don't buy. Statement to follow later. Thanks, Jai."
The album bore all kinds of resemblance to Paul's earlier work on songs like "BTSTU" and "Jasmine," with their chopped-up, filtered samples of music from all over the world, such as hip-hop, bhangra and calypso. But a number of factors, including the fact that Paul is signed to XL Recordings, and the generic track names ("Track 1," "Track 2," and so on, through to "Track 16"), seem out of place.
The album has now been taken down from Bandcamp, with rumours swirling as to the reason why.
This, of course, follows Dazed Digital writer Owen Myers' tweet that Paul told him, "This is an unofficial release. Official releases are handled by XL." He also relayed that "Jai Paul had his laptop stolen," and that "there will be a statement at 3pm."