JPEGMAFIA

DISCOGRAPHY

Devon Hendryx: Ghost Pop Tape (2013) 5/10

Communist Slow Jams (2014) 4.5/10

Darkskin Manson (2015) 4/10

Black Ben Carson (original mix, 2016) 7.5/10

w/ Freaky: 2nd Amendment (2016) 5/10

Veteran (2018) 6.5/10

All My Heroes Are Cornballs (2019) 6/10 

EP! (2020) 6/10

EP2! (2020) 5/10

LP! (2021) 7/10

w/ Danny Brown: Scaring the Hoes (2023) 6.5/10

I Lay Down My Life For You (2024) 5/10

   Barrington Hendricks was born in Brooklyn, October 22nd, 1989. His family would relocate to Alabama in 2002, where Hendricks would experience racism from the white trash of the area, which would sour his demeanor and curate his misanthropy. He began learning about music production and sampling at age 15, but would enlist with the air force after high school and serve for four years while buying instruments and computer hardware.

   While in Japan, Hendricks would release music under the moniker Devon Hendryx. An official compilation of this phase would arrive in 2013 on The Ghost Pop Tape. 

   In 2015, Hendricks moved to Baltimore, where he would first release music under the moniker JPEGMAFIA (aka Jpeg, Peggy, Peglord, etc.). The mixtapes Communist Slow Jams and Darkskin Manson collect demos of this period that are fundamentally chaff, but retrospectively necessary experiments that would mature into the sound of Black Ben Carson. 

   On Black Ben Carson, Jpeg proudly exhibits his passionate misanthropy through alienating soundscapes and mean-spirited lyrics. The record is even more vitriolic than Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP, since the volatility of his beats sharpens his antagonism. 

   His personal influences of pop-R&B like the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears also show, though they are perverted by grimy backdrops as in Black Stacey Dash and Boi. His lyrics range from huffy politics to matters as petty as hating listeners of the Rolling Stones, spewing statements to piss off both the right-wing and the left-wing, the black community and the white community, macho dudes and feminists, even the rap scene itself, the very platform he's speaking on. The omnipresent and overwhelming hostility is what defines the album's unique profile in the history of hip-hop.

   Each song is a hateful seizure, and though they are often offensive and politically incorrect, they nonetheless illustrate the headspace of a pissed off person better than a friendlier demeanor. Each beat's volatility further complement its distorted reality, the fabric of the music itself unpredictably glitching out, stuttering, twitching, or collapsing in dissociative episodes. 

   The flow does slump, however, in the last five songs. In this section perhaps the only exception is Kid Cudi, but the rest essentially seem like either filler or deja vu. 

   A "final mix" released in 2019 would harm the album's reputation. Aside from dropping a couple songs and changing the album cover, the mix would scalp layers of samples on almost every track, eliminating much of the density, claustrophobia, and often brilliant contrasts in the album's arrangements. It is a shame that this version is what most modern listeners would know the record by.

   Veteran would be Peggy's big break, finally exposing the mainstream to his exquisite production, vibrant sampling, abrasive humor, and unorthodox songwriting. 

    It contains some of the most powerful hip-hop songs of the decade, but also suffers from disposable material. 

   LP! (the "offline" version) is perhaps Jpeg's most consistent record, having several obvious highlights (Dirty, Rebound) but never losing its general sense of unpredictable and energizing beats and production techniques. 

   Scaring the Hoes is a collaboration between Jpegmafia and Danny Brown, though with Hendricks at the producer's chair, it is basically a JPEG album that happens to feature Brown on every song. 

    Despite the title, it is perhaps Jpegmafia's most accessible record. There are few melodic moments, so instead the songs orient around flashy beat switch-ups and dynamic sampling. The rhythms and beat drops are more predictable, but the momentum and intensity of each track is undeniable. This may be the first album where Peggy's production seems to emphasize sensationalism rather than creativity, but his signature quirks and overall style still entertains. 

Top 20 Songs

1. Baby I'm Bleeding (2018)

2. Digital Blackface (2016)

3. All Caps No Spaces (2016)

4. Real Nega (2018) - beat by Tori Wan Kenobi

5. Tired, Nervous & Broke! (2021)

6. Rebound! (2021)

7. Man Purse (2017)

8. Curb Stomp (2018)

9. Bald! (2020)

10. Black Steve Austin (2016)

11. What's Crackin' (2016)

12. Dirty! (2021)

13. The 27 Club (2016)

14. All My Heroes Are Cornballs (2019)

15. Prone! (2019)

16. Puff Daddy (2018)

17. Fix Urself! (2021)

18. You Think You Know (2016)

19. Free the Frail (2019)

20. w/ Freaky: I Might Vote 4 Donald Trump (2016)