Barrington Hendricks, known better by his stage name JPEGMAFIA, is no stranger to reinvention. Whether it is an instrumental plunderphonics record in “Dreamcast Summer Songs” or an experimental rap/sound collage album in “All My Heroes Are Cornballs,” JPEGMAFIA seems to make whatever he feels like.
Despite his jumps in genre, a common theme in his music is a grungy, angry tone. JPEGMAFIA songs are abrasive, overwhelming, and loud. As such, there seemed no more fitting genres to pull from than the anger produced in punk rock and metal. In “I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU,” JPEGMAFIA does exactly that.
JPEGMAFIA’s humorous opening line about being like Dillon Brooks, an infamously hated player in the NBA, is quickly followed by an electric guitar very reminiscent of punk rock. Electric guitar is all over the record, appearing in most songs to convey that rap-rock sound.
JPEGMAFIA seemingly cannot decide whether to stick to beats or actual instrumentation, so he just does both. Where “vulgar display of power” uses predominantly acoustic/electric instruments, it is immediately followed by “Exmilitary”’ and its hip-hop production.
The track “either on or off the drugs” was subject to a large amount of praise and criticism, because while it is one of the most addictive instrumentals on the record, it uses AI-generated content. The use of AI in art has been a controversial issue in recent months. However, this song uses AI in quite an unconventional way, sampling an AI soul cover of Future’s “Turn on the Lights.” Despite this, JPEGMAFIA assembles a beautiful arrangement in what is sure to be one of the most iconic beats of 2024.
It is hard to tell whether JPEGMAFIA is a better producer or rapper, and simpler just to observe that both his talents build off each other. There are few rappers that would be able to spit over the insane tracks he builds, and none better at it than himself. Two of the few other rappers who could do so are featured on this record, Vince Staples and Denzel Curry. Both hold their own even on the complex instrumentals.
JPEGMAFIA simply does not settle for stagnation. It seems that with every record, he takes his already incredible ability to produce and gets even better, pulling from whatever genres he feels like along the way. He candidly says “I’m done, I finally finished this / Finally, been working on this shit for a long time” to close out the album, and it is safe to say that his work — and our wait — more than paid off.