Hi, everyone. Pegthony Mafiatano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of this new JPEGMAFIA album, I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU.
Rapper, songwriter, producer extraordinaire, JPEGMAFIA. He is back with a brand new album. He is continuously one of the boldest and most exciting voices in the rap underground. And this record, he has been grinding on it and teasing toward it for a while now.
As somebody who has been following Peggy's work for a minute, at this point with this record, the tension is high. Not just because of the weight, but the creative bar set by his last album LP was pretty high, which in my view made it one of his best, if not his best full-length project to date.
However, I will say I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU is not an album that massively pails in comparison to its predecessor, sonically or creatively. In comparison, it is a bit on the short side, at least by JPEGMAFIA standards anyway. It is 14 tracks and 40 minutes, but with punchier hooks and catchier and more epic song structures laced into the tracklist on this record.
It's interesting to hear Peggy get a bit more concise and conventional on the run time side, while still displaying how wild of an artist and a rapper he truly is. Because Peggy does certainly keep things interesting on this album, especially on the production, much of which revolves around these huge guitar riffs and solos and rock drum beats and blown out drum fills. It leads to this really unique blend of rap and rock that somehow completely sidesteps all the cornball stuff that that fusion was known for in the late '90s and early 2000s, with an outcome that feels very specifically JPEGMAFIA.
Take the opening track, for example, "i scream this in the mirror before i interact with anyone", which features a chill ride cymbal rhythm, huge kick drums, distorted metal rift passages, too, and a shouty, wrapped vocal delivery from Peggy that at points has him sounding more like a punk frontman than just simply a rapper. Something I think he's had parallels to for a long time, but he's really embracing it on this record, and it leads to a thrilling start to the album.
From here, we have a smooth transition into the next track and the big single from the record, "Sin Miedo", where the walls of distortion and riffs circle back once again. But this time it's mixed with this huge 2 Live Crew vocal sample, 'Big Booty Hoes'. I just love that JPEGMAFIA vocally and instrumentally has this ability, this knack to just throw together all of these just really, really, truly unlikely sounds and reference points, and yet somehow it's all still really effective, punchy, versatile, visceral, and cohesive, even as the track periodically transitions into dance beats, of all things, too.
Things tone down a bit, but so beautifully on the following, "I'll Be Right There", which has a flow, a groove, and a beat to it that to my ears is just classic JPEGMAFIA, feels almost like a throwback to the veteran era. But instrumentally, I would say it's a bit more elevated and detailed. It feels like Peggy is consciously doing an older version of something just to prove that he can build on it and improve it, especially with those killer string samples and beautiful shots of group female vocal harmonies.
But look, this record is not just about JPEGMAFIA, fine-tuning things that we already know he can do. There are a lot of challenges he puts himself to on this record as well – "it's dark and hell is hot" is not just an interesting DMX nod, but it's also a crossover with Brazilian funk producer DJ RaMeMes, which if you're familiar with this guy, Brazilian funk music has really captured the hearts and minds of a lot of American and Western producers and electronic music fans as the beats and the lofi production are just so wild and so intense. It's just amazing how the funny vocal refrains and exotic groups complement Peggy's style so much, especially with just a little splash of some industrial ambiance around all of it.
I also like the fact that on this record, he's just opening himself up to more collaborations and more cross-pollinations. Because speaking of which, we have another stellar couple of those on the following "New Black History", which not only features a very cold-blooded and low-key and charismatic feature from none other than Vince Staples, but there's a super prominent future vocal sample placed throughout the song that serves as its hook.
'I hit the lottery cha-ching!', it's all catchy as hell, despite it, in some respects, sounding so disjointly especially with these herky-jerky analog bass synth sequences and choppy drum bits.
"Don't rely on other men" is also another big surprise because much of the track is centered around a vocal sample from a frigging Succession episode of all things, set against blaring shots of distortion and bass with some spaced out drums that culminate into something that feels, honestly, a little Death Grips inspired. It's like he's simultaneously giving the haters exactly the thing they want to freak out about, but he's doing it so well that you can't really hate on it.
There is also a track on this thing titled "Exmilitary", of all things, which is also the title of the breakout Death Grips mixtape of the same title. I feel like Peggy is further proving his point here with this while also referencing his own military background and clearly the title of a previous project, a classic of his veteran. But the thing about this track that's even ballsier and bolder than that is the organ sample laced into this track, which is pretty legendary. It's Wendy Renee's "After Laughter", which most notably was used on the first Wu-Tang Clan album in the song "Tears".
So again, insane unhinged types of nods that Peggy is making on this record. Ones that are going to cause any passionate or long-time music fan to look at what he's doing here and instantly compare it quality-wise to those classics tracks. But honestly, what Peggy does on this track, it pretty much holds up. I mean, it would be one thing if he was making all these references and the music itself was shit, but it's very much not. It's some of the best stuff he's put out to date.
The organs and the bass samples on this track make for a super cinematic backdrop as he is rapping about all these friends and haters and enemies who have turned on him or have it out for him. Nothing new for him topically and maybe a bit overboard in terms of the paranoia, but it's still something that he is lyrically sharp on and is very clearly passionate about.
Then the second half of the track totally switches the beat into a different instrumental palate with much the same chord progression, but with a way more cinematic presentation. I mean, easily this song is one of Peggy these biggest, most epic, most grand, and multifaceted tracks ever.
"JPEGULTRA!" from here is another stellar crossover with none other than Denzel Curry, who brings a very different but complementary energy to the table.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the amazing and incredible horn loop samples throughout this song, which are very throwback, very '70s. Sounds like something out of the soundtrack to an exploitation film. I feel like the shit that Denzel is talking during his feature on the track very much fits that vibe.
It's actually the final moments on the album where I think we get some of the best, but also most mixed-bag material on the record. Intimate spotlit rap moments like "either on or off the drugs" I absolutely love. I feel like it's fitting to throw tracks like this toward the finish. They show that even at this point where Peggy is more focused on vibes and energy than he is bar some of the time, that his pen game is still nothing to overlook as he gives us an updated self-portrait of his mental state on this track, set against some great swaying grooves and soul vocal chops.
However, from here, "loop it and leave it" comes pretty much as advertised as I feel like this instrumental, as lush as it is, is one of the more one-dimensional and uninteresting Peggy offers on the record. His flow doesn't really stick out to me, especially having heard so many similar ones on previous projects, too.
"Don't Put Anything On The Bible" is an interesting one. I mean, it kicks off with this very lengthy, acoustic, singer-songwriter type intro that is about the length of an entire song itself. It's performed by Buzzy Lee, who, believe it or not, is actually Steven Spielberg's frigging daughter. Okay, interesting, but it mostly feels just tagged onto the beat and then suddenly transitions into another instrumental that once again feels almost like a veteran leftover. But in this instance, I feel like Peggy isn't really adding that much to a previous vibe that he explored on an older album. It more or less just feels like a very rehashed energy, sound, flow, all of that. Overall, the most disjointed track on the record with the fewest refreshing ideas to offer overall, even if that length the acoustic start was unexpected.
However, the closing track "i recovered from this" is another low-key musical inner monolog set to some amazing acoustic guitar work, some haunting vocal harmonies, some strings, too. I feel like Peggy is going even deeper into his mental on this track, talking about his inability to function within certain relationships, having to heal himself. It's just incredible to see as Peggy has aged and gone further into his catalog, he's just gained this capacity for some serious emotional versatility because it's the most low-key and thoughtful moments on this album that, to my ears, were hitting the hardest. '
Overall, outside of that, I'm not sure if I have too much more to say about this record. I think it's great. Maybe not my favorite album that he's done so far, but certainly proof that Peggy is consistently creative and exciting and honestly making it sound easy at this point, while simultaneously keeping his sound and his approach to an album sounding refreshing with some new angles and experiments and slightly altered instrumental palettes, especially with, again, those big drums and riffs.
Really good, really quality, fantastic record from Peggy all around. I would say another number up on the board, you could say, which is why I'm feeling a strong 8 on it.
Anthony Fantano. JPEGMAFIA. Forever.
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