"I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU" by JPEGMAFIA

JPEGMAFIA was one of those artists that I always felt had crazy good potential, but I just had to wait it out for him to find his footing. I admired his experimental, chaotic sound but it didn't appeal to me too much outside of a few songs. I thought the Danny Brown collab really transformed his style and that a true evolution was coming with his next project. So it only makes sense that I cannot even begin to describe the sheer glee I felt when I found out Peggy was gonna drop this year... I remember seeing "don't rely on other men" popping up in my Youtube feed and knowing we were in for something amazing.

Funny thing about that track, I remember people at the time saying that they weren't super blown away by it the way I was. And then when "SIN MIEDO" came out, people were saying that was the track that actually started getting them hyped for the album. Me being the contrarian I am, I was really irritated by this being popular opinion. Sure, I was also being influenced by the stylish music video as well, but everything was just hitting so well for me. The doom-bringing tactile bass, the Succession sample, the bells, and that guitar solo at the end? Look man, it's not every day that a rapper adds rock guitars into a hip-hop song to any modicum of success. It seems more like a white producer thing that they make work, like the stuff El-P does. Anyways I digress, point is that I just sat around thinking I was right that this song was perfect as it was and couldn't be improved

Then the album came out and JPEG had made some changes.

If it's not obvious, I apparently seem to like weird, experimental rap. I like hearing unique samples, genre crossovers, and all that. The guitar solo was good enough for me because it felt like I was finally getting some hip-hop made by a metalhead/punk-rocker. But then he takes it an EXTRA level adding these beautiful swirling strings after the guitar has been playing for a bit. This was making my heart flutter, because this song had gone from a cool, sort of dark track to something truly ethereal by the end. I'm just sitting here thinking, "oh okay, so not only is JPEG is getting really good with drums, or adding really effective electric guitar to his tracks, but he's also going to make something beautiful with strings?" This was gonna be something different...

And different it was!!! I know JPEG makes "scaring the hoes music", and yeah this album is still very much that, but it feels more.... listenable I think to a general audience. I'm really just going off my ears here, because even I can't listen to some of his previous music, but I bump this album regularly, and the whole thing too! I'm also pretty sure my parents genuinely like a couple tracks, which I can't say for any of his other albums. I think it also kinda shows in his features, like Vince Staples and Denzel Curry. They're both considered kinda weird but they've got more mainstream appeal, so this feels like... maybe the post "palatable" release JPEG has done so far. I'm not saying that as an insult or anything, I just think it's interesting to point out.

I think I got off my point again. Point being, this album absolutely blew me away. It all completely sold me as a JPEGMAFIA fan. I locked in some merch purchases pretty soon after listening and caught a show while he was on tour. Not only was I freaking out about some of my other faves being featured here, but it was also just the consistent quality across tracks. I've got too much of a headache to really get into how amazing this all was... opening track was explosive and set the tone. The insane guitar on "JIHAD JOE" was boiling hot.

What I really gotta talk about is "Don't Put Anything On the Bible"... We all got a peek at that track during the album trailer, but I still remember being a bit confused about what I was hearing, seeing even! What are these dazzling visuals filmed in broad daylight supposed to be about? What's up with Buzzy Lee's beautiful voice and the magical guitar/string combo? What's with these LYRICS?! "I want a love like water through me, I should've poured my honey slowly"?? How is this on a JPEGMAFIA album?! This is by far the most beautiful thing I've heard all year, and it very nearly brought me to tears. If Peggy ever does an interview or something explaining how this track came to be, I want to be the first to know, because this is really something else. Following this up with "i recovered from this" is just perfect... if I hadn't been in such a good mood I definitely would've broke down sobbing at that point. I've said "no skips," but I have to skip that song if I want to avoid people asking why I suddenly started crying,

I said it once before, and I'll say it again — when people say hip-hop is the new punk, JPEGMAFIA is who they're talking about.