It’s a musical juxtaposition that always works for him. Calvert’ – as they both utilise ethereal synth-led beats whilst JPEG delivers his lyrics aggressively. Sampling a spaced-out version of the Ridge Rider Type 4 game soundtrack’s drum and bass tune ‘Move Me’, it harks back to JPEGMafia’s ‘Veteran’ album – especially ‘1539 N. One of the wackiest tunes on this experimental album is ‘BALD!’ which sees the Flatbush native randomly inserting the song’s title in between his lyrics, like a self-aware quip at himself and his shaven head: “Hairline proof God needs balance / Bald!”.
It’s a record which expresses some of the same absurd chaos as his fourth offering ‘LP!’. Experimenting with crazy samples and genre-blending, his rap always feels otherworldly, perfectly backed up on his first critically acclaimed studio album, ‘All My Heroes Are Cornballs’. One of the most innovative out there is Brooklynite JPEGMafia. His role as villain or satirist, hood protector or nihilist is intentionally hard to put one’s finger on.Hidden among the flashy rappers hitting it big in the mainstream lie idiosyncratic music makers with a rebellious style that pushes the boundaries, unearthed by quirky lovers of the art form that is hip-hop. If trap music is the sound of the street, then JPEGMAFIA is trap’s subconscious dark but not without a humor that makes things even more uncomfortable. Operating out of Baltimore Maryland but born in New York to Jamaican parents, JPEG spent the bulk of his childhood in East Flatbush, Brooklyn-a neighborhood deeply rooted in West Indian culture and black pride-and the majority of his mid teens in deep south rural Alabama-bouncing from place to place due to rough circumstances at home and after a short stint in prison due to a racially-charged altercation in his late teens, JPEG joined the military where he’d be deployed to different parts of the world, meeting fellow artists and adding new elements to his producing and rapping repertoire. JPEGMAFIA is a reminder that in a dangerous world, sometimes nowhere is safe. Often, art is considered the safe space for dangerous ideas.
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