JPEGMAFIA - I Lay Down My Life for You

As much as I give Peggy credit, I went into this project with a healthy dose of skepticism. No not because of Vultures, we can ignore that, but because I feel that JPEG is a rapper-producer that keeps pushing the experimental boundaries of modern hip hop way past its borders. How could he possibly one up himself? I mean the guy's output, even before the JPEG moniker, was deeply emotional, sometimes satirical, but overall captivating and a real standout voice in the underground rap scene. Turning his music around past the years of "Ghost Pop Tape," Peggy has proven with release after release that he is a force of nature not to be reckoned with. You look at the immediacy of catchy moments on "Veteran" and they will stay within your mind upon first listen. Or your stream "LP! (Offline)" and realize how much range in production styles and deliveries this man carries for almost an hour in change. Or just take a gander at my number one album of last year, "SCARING THE HOES" and let the chaos that surrounds Danny and Peggy's music and lyricism sink into. He's already done so much over his career, and again, I think what more does he have to prove, now that we have gotten one of the more consistent discographies in modern rap.

I will start saying off that my skepticism kicked in when I originally heard the album's first teaser "Don't Rely on Other Men." When this song cam out, I remember jumping to the file immediately and coming out the other end surprisingly disappointed at the result. My problems mainly concerned the mixing of the instrumental and Peggy's rapping coming off as too scant. And that's a shame because he's had cleaner mixes than this one in the past, especially on Scaring the Hoes. It drew me back from all the clever one liners and the outlandish production details, and by the time the outro started to fizzle out, I was left more confused than amused. How could he falter at something that's become second nature for him, as an artist, as a rapper, as a producer? "SIN MIEDO" however gave me the opposite impression, almost like Peggy was biting off more than he could chew. This is one of the most chaotic and unpredictable songs of his careers and while it for sure left a sizable impression on me but I could never make heads or tails of how each element of the song is structured and sequenced to fit the vibe. It's a disorienting feeling that I haven't gotten from him in a while. So there definitely was good reasoning behind my doubts. I didn't want to go into this album hating it, you kidding me? I've seen release after release that he could pull through with an engaging, unpredictable, and memorable project amongst his fanbase.

And after many, many listens of this thing, while it may not be JPEG's best work period, I believe that "Veteran" and "LP!" hold the torch, this is without a doubt Peggy's best produced project containing some of his most personal and introspective lyrics since "Ghost Pop." One thing I will give this album immediate praise for is that the songs I was initially on the fence about, he fixed it. Maybe it was just hearing "SIN MIEDO" in context after the headbanger of an opener that did it for me. The chugging guitar riffs, Peggy's aggressiveness over the track, the "Big Booty Hoes" refrain, even the dance beat at the end all coalesces into what should theoretically be a mess of a song, but it's kinda genius when looked closer. And with the aforementioned "Don't Rely on Other Men," I guess two minds think alike that the production needed refinement, and he definitely delivered. Now I feel more enjoyment out of the booming bass hits over Peggy's threatening bars, and the ending with the string additions make for a much more memorable conclusion to the songs. It's funny how it went from one of my least favorite Peggy single to one of the best tracks on the album. Huh, funny how that works.

The run of songs from that previous track to "either on or off the drugs" is an impressive feat. "Vulgar Display of Power" is a full-on rager that could've gained a place on his last album, easily. The pounding production from the chugging metallic guitar lines to the fatty bass hits gives this song a heavier edge than a lot of the tracks, as Peggy directly is yelling in our faces about murdering the rap game and bragging about how he'll never fall off. A pretty simplistic message at the core but one that goes over surprising well upon first impression. "Exmilitary" and "JIHAD JOE" take things more in a personal direction. The progressiveness of both songs might be slower to trudge through but the payoff at the end of them is well worth your time. "JPEGULTRA!" featuring Denzel Curry was a lock for me. They've collabed in the past on their respective projects, so pulling out an emotional and cathartic banger together, I see no problem with that. The cheesy soulfulness of their playful deliveries and the Jazz samples really sell the song for me. Hell, I got the horn line repeating in my head right now. And "either on or off the drugs" might be one of Peggy's best chill songs yet. The way his voice gently glides over the production as he's almost interacting with the main vocal sample is a dynamic I haven't heard him execute this well in a while. Truly some diverse and surprisingly emotional material from a rap veteran, who again, does he have really anything to prove at this point? I'm glad he took risks on this album, as for all the repeat listens of "Scaring the Hoes," I didn't want him to just rehash old ideas, but not reinvent the wheel at the same time.

There are some experiments on the album that don't go over for me as well however. I find pats of "it's dark and hell is hot" to be under mixed and not really fitting the vibe of the rest of the record. The Latin vocal samples are underutilized and almost go against the very fast rapping that Peggy does on this cut. But I respect the changeup (shout out Brazil). The Future sample on "New Black History" got a good gut laugh out of me on first listen, but the way the beat meanders around the two verses from JPEG and Vince Staples doesn't leave a lot to report home about, and the refrain gets old pretty quickly towards the end. I have similar problems with Peggy fighting his own beats on "loop it and leave it" where he's almost challenging himself to rap fast over one repeated loop and have the lyrics not hit as hard as they do on other cuts. "Don't Put Anything on the Bible" is to ideas mashed into one, and while Buzzy Lee's vocals sound pretty across the guitar and string embellishments on the first half, Peggy's rap verse does very little to complement the vibe, leaving the rest of the track off with hollow results.

But the closer, however, I found to be great and does an effective job at personally rapping all the themes of the album and through Peggy's carer into a bow. It's one of his most moving tracks and honestly reminds me why I mess with his music so much, even when every moment doesn't land. So yeah, my doubts were proven wrong again. I wished this thing were a little more consistent as some of the risks didn't pan out in the way they were intended to, or that the lyrical gems and one liners were hitting me harder. I acknowledge that I may not like this Peggy album more than a ton of users on this site, but damn is he consistent. Some of his most mature work is on this project, ironic because he's been doing this since 2008, but that's what pulls me into this project the most. His openness and vulnerability guides this project along and stings it together. It's a move for his music that I hope he explores when creating subsequent projects. I've got nothing else. He did it again. Peggy's the mothafuckin' future!

FAVORITES: SIN MIEDO, I’ll Be Right There, New Black History, Don’t Rely on Other Men, Vulgar Display of Power, Exmilitary, JPEGULTRA!, Either On or Off the Drugs

LEAST FAVORITE: Loop it and Leave it

8/10