"Exhibit C" is a single by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 rap

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 artist Jay Electronica

Jay Electronica

Timothy Elpadaro Thedford , better known by his stage name Jay Electronica, is an American hip hop recording artist and record producer...

 released to iTunes

ITunes Store

The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...

 on December 22, 2009, as an EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 with explicit, clean and instrumental versions.

Background

The song, produced by Just Blaze, samples Billy Stewart

Billy Stewart

Billy Stewart was an American musical artist, with a highly distinctive scat-singing style, who enjoyed popularity in the 1960s.-Biography:...

's "Cross My Heart". Jay has stated that the song was produced in only 15 minutes for the purpose of premiering a new song on Angela Yee

Angela Yee

Angela Yee is an American radio personality on New York City's radio station Power 105.1.-Early life:Yee was born and raised in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York to an African American mother and a Chinese father. When she was 15 years old, she moved to South Orange, New Jersey. Angela...

's show on Shade 45

Shade 45

Shade 45 is Eminem's uncensored Hip-Hop/Rap-heavy urban contemporary channel. Eminem Brings On-Air show hosts. It debuted with a hip hop format in 2004, changing to its current incarnation when it was added to XM channel 66...

. The lyrics reference a time when Jay was homeless in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. Despite not having an album or major label support, the song received airplay on stations like WQHT. The EP cover is a tinted photograph of inventor Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...

 sitting with his magnifying transmitter

Magnifying transmitter

The magnifying transmitter is an advanced version of Tesla coil transmitter. It is a high power harmonic oscillator that Nikola Tesla intended for the wireless transmission of electrical energy...

.

Remixes

The instrumental became very popular among hip-hop artists, with several rappers such as Fabolous

Fabolous

John David Jackson , better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper of African American and Dominican descent. He grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Part of his early popularity arose from his hit single "Can't Deny It" in 2001, from his debut...

, Cassidy, Crooked I

Crooked I

Dominick Wickliffe, better known by his stage name Crooked I, is an American rapper from Long Beach, California. He is a member of the hip hop group, Slaughterhouse with other members Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Royce da 5'9. Slaughterhouse is currently signed to Shady Records / Interscope Records....

, Joell Ortiz

Joell Ortiz

Joell Ortiz is an American rapper from Brooklyn, New York, and a member of the group Slaughterhouse.-Biography:Joell Ortiz was born to Puerto Rican parents. Ortiz grew up in the Cooper Park Houses in the East Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York formerly signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath...

, Bobby Creekwater

Bobby Creekwater

Bobby Creekwater is an American rapper and hip-hop producer from Atlanta, Georgia who is a former member of Shady Records.-Biography:...

, AZ (rapper)

AZ (rapper)

Anthony Cruz , better known as AZ is a Grammy-nominated American rapper of Dominican & African American descent. He is known for being a long time and frequent rhyme partner of Nas, and also a member of hip-hop group The Firm alongside Nas, Foxy Brown, Cormega and Nature.In a countdown of the 10...

, N.O.R.E., Saigon, Charles Hamilton

Charles Hamilton (rapper)

Charles Eddie-Lee Hamilton, Jr. is an American musician, rapper and record producer, born in Cleveland, Ohio.Mainstream popularity came from being featured on the cover of the Freshmen 09' XXL, along with Asher Roth, B.o.B and Wale...

, B.o.B

B.o.B

Bobby Ray Simmons, Jr. , better known by his stage name B.o.B, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is currently signed under the labels of Grand Hustle Records, Rebel Rock Entertainment, and Atlantic Records. His debut single "Nothin' on You" reached number one in both...

, Childish Gambino, Twista

Twista

Carl Terrell Mitchell , better known by his stage name Twista, is an American rapper. He is known for once holding the title of fastest rapper in the world according to Guinness World Records in 1992, being able to pronounce 598 syllables in 55 seconds...

, Papoose

Papoose

A papoose is an American English loanword whose present meaning is "a Native American Indian child" or, even more generally, any child, usually used as a term of endearment, often in the context of the child's mother. The word came originally from the Narragansett tribe...

, Game, Lil B

Lil B

Brandon McCartney , known by his stage name Lil B or "The BasedGod", is a rapper from Berkeley, California. He has recorded both solo and with the Pack. In addition, Lil B is noted for his extensive use of social media Web sites such as MySpace and Twitter to build an online following.-Early...

, Cashis

Cashis

Ramone Johnson, better known by his stage name Cashis , is an American rapper who was born and raised in Chicago, but moved to Irvine, California. He was featured on the Shady album Eminem Presents: The Re-Up and released the County Hound EP in 2007...

 and Big K.R.I.T.

Big K.R.I.T.

Justin Scott , better known by his stage name Big K.R.I.T. , is an American hip hop musician and record producer from Meridian, Mississippi.-Biography:...

 recording their own versions of the song. Mos Def

Mos Def

Dante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...

 has performed the song live.

Critical reception

The song has received a very positive reception from critics.

NME

NME

The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

said, "'Exhibit C' is the most accomplished piece of 'conscious rap' this millennium — perhaps ever."

Shaheem Reid of MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

.com said it "is one of those special hip-hop records that you hear and instantly love."

Wes Flexner of The Other Paper

The Other Paper

The Other Paper is an alternative weekly news publication servicing the Greater Columbus, Ohio area. It is distributed on Thursdays and contains primarily local news and other features such as concert and movie reviews, classified ads, and personals, all with a distinctly irreverent, humorous style...

says the song "has created a feeling that hasn't existed since Common Sense's 1994 single 'I Used to Love H.E.R.

I Used to Love H.E.R.

"I Used to Love H.E.R." is a hip hop song by the Chicago-born rapper Common. Released on the 1994 album Resurrection, "I Used to Love H.E.R." has since become one of Common's best known songs. Produced by No I.D., its jazzy beat samples "The Changing World" by George Benson. A video directed by...

' Both songs make everyone, regardless of their current role in life, remember why they fell in love with hip-hop."

Henry Adaso of About.com

About.com

About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....

 called "Exhibit C" the best rap song of 2009, saying it "embodies everything people admire about Jay Electronica — a combo of compelling confessionals and convincing boasts, delivered in a charismatic manner."

On July 25, 2010 MTV2

MTV2

MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to analogue cable lineups across the nation...

's Sucker Free Summit award show awarded "Exhibit C" with the Instant Classic Award.

Chart performance

Chart (2010)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...	86