JPEGMAFIA - "LP! (Offline)" Album Review

Popularized during the 2000s, a producer tag is a short sound typically inserted at the beginning of a song by the song’s producer. These tags function as the audio counterpart of a handwritten signature, and usually incorporate the producer’s name or personality in some way. The signature tag used by rapper-producer JPEGMAFIA originates from the entrance theme of WWE wrestler Edge. The theme begins with an isolated female voice sassily uttering the words “You think you know me”; This short tagline has been sampled by JPEGMAFIA countlessly over his body of work. With every new release, he affirms the irony of that statement, as he continually redefines his sound to subvert listeners’ expectations and keep them guessing. The “Offline” version of his 2021 album LP! is no exception.

JPEGMAFIA, born Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks, is no stranger to adversity and hardship. He experienced a traumatic upbringing, particularly when he moved to Alabama at the age of 13, having to withstand an exorbitant amount of racism and physical abuse. In an attempt to escape his acute living conditions, Hendricks enlisted in the United States Air Force when he was 18. During his first and only term, he began writing and producing ambient pop music under the pseudonym Devon Hendryx. After being honorably discharged from the military, Hendricks moved to Baltimore and began to make his now-signature brand of aggressive, politically-charged, experimental rap music, adopting the alias JPEGMAFIA and its shorthand “Peggy”. At age 31, Peggy had a sizable discography under his belt, including three studio albums, two mixtapes, and a handful of EPs and singles to his name. Despite all of this, Peggy still had some grievances to air out.

Peggy’s fourth studio album LP!, is his final release under contract with EQT Recordings (a division of Republic Records), and his middle finger send-off to the music industry. Two different versions of the album were released, the first one being the “Online” version, found on major streaming platforms. The “Offline” version, found on platforms such as YouTube and Bandcamp, contains five additional tracks that were barred from being released on streaming platforms due to sample clearance issues. It also hosts several extended versions of certain songs compared to their “online” counterparts, and thus has been touted by Peggy as the ideal way to experience the album. Throughout LP!, Peggy is on the offensive, taking aim at those responsible for instances where he’s felt manipulated or overlooked. He also demonstrates his resilience, effortlessly rebounding from each predicament, whether it’s regarding business or interpersonal relations.

Peggy’s thick skin has allowed him to become impervious to anyone’s nonsense, and he vents his repressed frustrations across LP!. The opening track “TRUST!” is a great tone-setter where Peggy declares that no one could ever get in the way of his vision, rapping “These hoes is conniving, I won't even try them” in a suave but sharp manner, with his vocals ducking and weaving through the crowded nature of the beat’s jittery synth blips, bells, and percussion. As the song goes on, the beat smoothes out and allows Peggy to repeat and modify the song’s repeated verse more comfortably. A few tracks later, Peggy ramps up the energy on “HAZARD DUTY PAY!”, and calls out those who have faked their way through the industry to gain undeserved success. Peggy wails bars like “Y'all love the fake, I've been real from the start / Never hesitate to shoot at a star” almost as if he’s battling the soulful vocal chops that heighten the song’s instrumental. On the following track “GOD DON’T LIKE UGLY!”, Peggy asserts he’s beyond classification, and that “These days the bar so low for weird shit, had to stop sharing / I'm so peerless, beats get you off your bum ass like Baron”. This brand of meta commentary continues on “WHAT KINDA RAPPIN’ IS THIS?”, where Peggy further flaunts his authenticity by rhyming, “I rap like I'm one bar from slittin' my wrist / You one bar away from me splittin' your wig, say a few words and jump back in the pit”. He immediately follows this jab by returning to the song’s condescending hook, which parodies the often exaggerated and vague flexes of Peggy’s contemporaries through the overused “triplet flow”, common in trap music. 

While Peggy’s lyrics are as technically proficient as ever on LP!, some of the more impressive moments on the album come when Peggy lets his production do the talking. After Peggy finishes his explosive verse on “DIKEMBE!”, the track morphs into a futuristic assemblage of spacey keys guided by a punchy bass synth, a transcendent interlude for an already sonically diverse track. The instrumental interlude “NICE!” is a compelling homage to Peggy’s history. The beat samples a marine cadence and juxtaposes it with what sounds like a frenetically-strummed mandolin, offsetting the intensely rhythmic chanting and precisely quantized drums. The grimy guitars and triumphant horns on the outro of “THE GHOST OF RANKING DREAD!” exist purely to inspire elation. Throughout LP!, Peggy continually showcases his ear for samples, pulling from media that’s important to his background. From the aforementioned military cadence and gospel music, to classic video game sound effects and even a monologue from former wrestler Arn Anderson, the unique character of JPEGMAFIA is fully and unapologetically represented here, more so than in his previous work. 

While Hendricks’ previous two full lengths, Veteran and All My Heroes Are Cornballs, have their own standout songs and moments, LP! is his most consistent and genre-pushing work under the JPEGMAFIA moniker to date. With Veteran being on the more aggressive side, it can be a strenuous listen due to some of the sound choices being overtly dissonant. Other times songs will fly by without leaving a lasting impression. Cornballs slightly remedies this, but can teeter in the opposite direction, often getting lost in its own ideas. Since the release of those albums, Peggy’s skills in songwriting and song structure have exponentially improved. Blending the sounds of his recent companion pieces EP! and EP!2, LP! goes above and beyond with its creative direction. 

In genres like hip-hop, it can be commonplace to brag that you’re on top of the game. Peggy is one of the few artists who can back up that claim. His wide skill set makes him a musical auteur, as evident from the official credits of LP!, which lists him as writing, producing, mixing, and mastering nearly every track. Despite being a lone wolf in the industry, the strength of Peggy’s albums have rendered him unstoppable, and LP! continues that streak. Now an independent artist once again, Peggy oozes confidence, demonstrating that the support of a record label was a hurdle for him rather than a necessity.