I honestly think JPEGMAFIA aka Peggy is one of my favorite artists. I have no idea how I first heard of him, but it was definitely in high school. I was 17, and desperately trying to find new artists to love. Somehow I come across “Baby I’m Bleeding” and the song, with it’s hypnotic and repetitive intro, paired with the creepy video had me hooked immediately. I hadn’t heard anything like it, it was glitchy, but accessible. Not just weird for the sake of being weird. I immediately showed all my friends who would listen and reveled in their confused faces as I played track after track.
Fast forward three years and Peggy drops LP! and I’m not going to lie, I did not like this when it first dropped. I was severely let down by his 2019 effort All My Heroes Are Cornballs so I was hesitant going into this one, and I just couldn’t get into it, but as time went on I found myself picking it up again and I’m so thankful I did. This instantly shot up to my favorite JPEG project. Peggy is in another universe on this project, everything sounds calculated and precise. It’s got everything you’d want from Peggy and more.
Starting this album off with “TRUST!” and “DIRTY!” was a great choice. They’re basically what you’d expect from a Peggy track, his flows dipped between triplet flow and a laid back spitting, just to make sure you process everything he says. Between the two tracks Peggy raps about people being untrustworthy and how he’s different compared to these other rappers. What I love about Peggy’s tracks and production is how his songs are filled with moments, or sections of the songs that don’t last super long, but stay in your mind forever. In “DIRTY!” it’s when the percussion and the bass cut out and Peggy is just rapping over the synth pads, then the drums come back in with two kicks and it literally sounds like the revving of an old, heavy engine.
The section from “END CREDITS!” to “THE GHOST OF RANKING DREAD!” might be some of the best music ever made, period. Starting with “END CREDITS!“, the song starts with a clip of Arn Anderson delivering his historical promo against Cody Rhodes, which feels like the mantra for the entire album. For context, Anderson was comparing how him and Rhodes handle dangerous situations. If they were both robbed, Rhodes would readily give them everything he had, Anderson would pull out a gun and get busy. That second approach is how Peggy approached this entire album. He was in the midst of a beef with Armand Hammer aka billy woods & E L U C I D during this time and that takes up a bulk of the subject matter of every song. It’s alluded to on this track, but trust me it gets way more apparent. “END CREDITS!” sees Peggy rapping over a power-metal loop, it’s so hypnotic. He screams the entire song, so it’s impossible to not feel the energy and passion in the lyrics and the delivery. So, by the time the end comes and you hear “I’m Arn Anderson!” you just have to say it. “THOT’S PRAYER!” might be my second favorite song on the entire album. It starts off with these dreamy muffled chords, then this dulcimer (?) intros the song, and you’re hooked. This is all before Peggy says one word. When he appears, he’s singing “Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears, of course. What else would he sing? The 808s come in before the first verse and oh my god, I almost lose my mind every time, but when he breaks the beat down and slows the tempo? Wow. What is wrong with him? “Are you thirsty? Are you lost? Are you DUMB? Bitch where you at?” Gets me activated every single time, it’s something about Peggy’s delivery in very specific moments that make me explode.
Okay, here we go, “REBOUND!” is one of the craziest diss tracks I have ever heard. It really needs to be in some list somewhere near the top for best diss tracks of all time. I’ll be honest, though. The beef was so niche. Imagine trying to explain it to a group of people. “This one guy named JPEGMAFIA was in a beef with a group named after a brand of baking soda.” You’re getting the fluoride stare, buddy. Regardless, Peggy is angry on this one. On a song directly aimed at Armand Hammer, he brings up and makes fun of their age, their obscurity, and billy woods’ dead father. Oh my god, right? Wait until you hear the beat. He raps about all over that over their booming, monumental horns that make it sound like a death march of the army of a dictatorship. This song sounds desolate, devoid of all hope, but there’s Peggy and DATPIFFMAFIA in the middle of it with their middle fingers up. My favorite segment on this track is:
“When we catch him, we gon’ pull him apart
It’s up, it’s that way
Countin’ money, your pops in an ashtray
Gettin’ death threats every week (Uh)
From some pussies that y’all never see
First your daddy got rolled in a Sweet (Oh, yeah)
Then you came to my show and got beat (Oh, yeah)
It’s so funny, you try work it out
When y’all niggas can’t even stay on beat, huh“
What on Earth is wrong with him? It’s so sick and deranged, I love it. I cannot believe they squashed this beef. If someone made fun of my Dad dying then went on tour and had people reciting it and turning up to it, I would’ve been a cold day in hell before I talked to them again and an even colder day when we worked together again.
Some more moments I gush over are the flow Peggy uses on “SICK, NERVOUS & BROKE!” when he says “Now are you feeling me baby or do you need it more?” for a couple reasons. He’s so in a pocket by this time in his verse that you’re hanging onto every word, and when he says this line, the 808s stumble to match his delivery. Another moment is the synth solo that happens between the refrain and the second verse on “KISSY, FACE EMOJI!.” MY goodness, that’s like an angel getting it’s wings. The whole “NICE!” instrumental is incredible, but when the other elements drop out and its just the 808s and the sample? Sheesh. That song going right into “BMT!” is something to behold. Seriously? These two songs being sequenced after each other is insanity. When the beat drops on this one? I legit can’t handle it sometimes. It’s like you’re getting punched in the face and kicked in the chest at the exact same time. The 808 is distorted so it gives the track a rigid glitchy feel, it’s the absolute best. At the end, the beat keeps building and building, then it just…evaporates. The exact same effect “Little Hitler” by EBTG has, explains why I love it so much.
Listen, man, I know Peggy is a divisive artist. You either love him, like I do, or you really don’t care for him. I’ll just say this, try this album before you listen to anything else he’s done. I’d say this is is his most accessible full-length project to date and this is usually the one I tell people about if they’ve never heard of him before. My favorites are “REBOUND!,” “THOT’S PRAYER!,” and “BMT!” so I’d start with those if you’re skeptical.
Peggy just released an album, and its some good songs on there, too! Go check that out!
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