The latest album from JPEGMAFIA puts his artistic versatility at the forefront, providing a rich listening experience, Music Critic Dean Turner reviews
I wrote in the final line of my Beginner’s Guide to JPEGMAFIA that ‘I can not predict what JPEGMAFIA’s music will sound like in a year or two, but I know that it will be one thing: different.’ The rapper, producer, singer, and songwriter has proven me right with the release of his latest full-length album, titled LP!. Just two years ago, JPEGMAFIA dropped his coveted All My Heroes Are Cornballs, which mined from the more pop-friendly aspects of the experimental rap scene, taking a step away from the abrasive and noisy cuts of his 2018 breakout record, Veteran. Throughout 2020 and 2021, JPEGMAFIA spring-boarded from the R&B-inspired, eclectic sounds of All My Heroes Are Cornballs, to the experimentalism of EP! and then to the more mellowed-out EP2!. Quite paradoxically, it is the difference between all the material that JPEGMAFIA has released so far that ties it all together. LP! certainly lives up to this unpredictability, with many contrasting sounds sitting comfortably together on this album.
We can find some common threads between his projects, however. Even back as far as 2015’s Communist Slow Jams, JPEGMAFIA has presented us with a boisterous yet deeply politically-informed sense of humour in his lyricism that spills over into the passion and more than occasional temper in his delivery. Through his entirely idiosyncratic alchemy of left field pop-culture references and raw talent as a producer, JPEGMAFIA has released a series of utterly brilliant projects. In this way, LP! feels like a more brushed up version of all the elements he has refined in his previous work.
Laden with lush R&B samples and some of JPEGMAFIA’s finest work lyrically
However, LP! is very unique in one particular way: there are two versions of it. One is available on streaming services and the other ‘offline’ version is available on YouTube and Bandcamp exclusively. The versions are not different enough to merit being considered different albums in their own right, but the offline version features some different tracks and mixes of songs, notably ‘HAZARD DUTY PAY!,’ a track laden with lush R&B samples and some of JPEGMAFIA’s finest work lyrically. In the description of the album on Bandcamp, JPEGMAFIA describes the offline version as the ‘real LP!’ From this, we can infer that the offline version is probably more true to the artists’ original vision. Regardless, both versions are entirely polished and complete. I have a personal preference for the ‘offline’ version but this review will not focus on one or the other.
The second song, ‘DIRTY!’ is one of my personal favourite songs by JPEGMAFIA. This track is unmistakably a JPEGMAFIA song and showcases the rapper and producer on top of his game. The production is sleek yet still leaves room for his off-the-wall, glitchy bent. The lyricism here, of course, is full of humour, pop-culture references, and attitude, with bars such as ‘Love screwin’ with the cops, I’m Lana,’ referring to singer Lana Del Rey’s relationship with police officer, Sean Larkin. However, his posturing is not devoid of any deeper meaning. In this second verse, he takes down artists who depend on trend and hype with their, ‘Weak-ass rhymes, weak-ass lines, same old synths, them weak-ass slides,’ asking, ‘Who you gon’ call when the trends all die? (Me.)’ He reflects at the end of this verse: ‘…I been walkin’ my path the whole time.’ A truer assessment of things could not have been made. JPEGMAFIA knows he is a truly unique artist, and will not compromise to stay on-trend.
The third song, however, is one of the weaker points on the album. ‘NEMO!’ makes a lot of JPEGMAFIA’s songs sound like pop chart-toppers. Despite its technical brilliance, I found it to be lacking in the real content that makes him so good at what he does, which was particularly noticeable coming right after such as a banger as ‘DIRTY!’ Perhaps the song will grow on me with more listens, but sometimes I, unfortunately, feel myself having to consign it to the doom of the skip button, which is heartbreaking to say about something made by JPEGMAFIA. I think that any criticism I have of ‘NEMO!’ can be expanded to the whole album. The record does not seem to flow as seamlessly between some songs, and of course, notwithstanding the technical wizardry demonstrated by JPEGMAFIA, some instrumentals do not have the same enthralling power after a few listens.
Yet despite whatever criticism I can think of, LP! is a truly great album, featuring some of JPEGMAFIA’s best work. Most songs are very accessible and catchy in contrast to some of his earlier material, be that from in the form of the soaring R&B samples of ‘HAZARD DUTY PAY!’ or the lush, euphoric build and release of ‘WHAT KIND OF RAPPIN’ IS THIS?’ ‘THOT’S PRAYER!’ even features an artistic nod to Britney Spears.
JPEGMAFIA has really come into his own and found himself musically
What is even more impressive is that these accessible tracks somehow coexist with the record’s more aggressive cuts. ‘OG!’ features a sample from Just Ice’s ‘The Original Gangster of Hip-Hop’ with lyrics in his usual spirited fashion, while ‘REBOUND!’ is utterly warlike. On top of one of the hardest beats he has ever come up with, JPEGMAFIA addresses some personal beef with such brutal bars as ‘Why would I pray for your health? Baby, I pray for myself!’ DATPIFFMAFIA also collaborates with JPEGMAFIA on a verse which in my opinion has one of the best lines on the album: ‘Sh*t woulda been a Zoom meeting ’cause I woulda boxed up his face.’
This album is filled to the brim with great tracks and is certainly an improvement upon JPEGMAFIA’s previous work in many ways. With any minor critiques, it is undeniable that his biting lyricism and delivery is only improving, and I would like to contend that the production of LP! is some of his most boundary-pushing to date. It is an album full of contrasts, with hard, animated cuts existing with softer, melodic jams, yet JPEGMAFIA has really come into his own and found himself musically. The album from front to back is almost like a resume of JPEGMAFIA’s career. He is proving that he can be a rapper, producer, singer, songwriter, all at the same time, and paradoxically excel at each. JPEGMAFIA is fully aware that he is a walking contradiction, but he embraces and finds solace in his weirdness.
Rating: 8/10
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