The first time I heard this was on Zane Lowe’s BBC Radio 1 show a few years ago when I was in sixth form. I was on the way to a house party and honestly, all I could think about was how good the song was and how I didn’t catch the name of the artist, just the song title. Thankfully, a bit of digging left me with an RnB banger to add to my library.
Hailing from Newham in East London, Jay Prince has a plethora of influences, growing up in an Angolan-Congolese household. Traditionally a rapper, Jay Prince looked to evolve his sound with Polaroids, with a more RnB feel to the melody and with self-proclaimed funk and soul roots. This is apparent on the first listen, and in an interview with The 405, Prince said he wanted to create a funky track with a purpose; a concept that goes beyond just making music. He never meant to release Polaroids, but did so on a whim on his Soundcloud with no promo and it went down a storm. Where he’d usually get 6-8,000 plays on his tracks, this surpassed 30,000. Released in 2014, it went on to be featured on Prince’s 2015 project, BeFor Our Time.
It’s a mellow beginning to the track, before bursting into a head-nodding, bouncy hook that is the main attraction for me. Prince represents East London throughout, making it clear his affinity with the neighbourhood he grew up in and how it shaped him.
Every rapper should have a come-up track in their locker; detailing their past struggles, the hustle to make it. People like Pusha T have made a career about rapping about their drug-dealing past. But Jay Prince’s Polaroids is a unique one, a track that will make you take notice from the first line.
Spotify Playlist Link: https://spoti.fi/2CKuVex
A Song A Day 